Conflicting Chaos
by aFigureOfSpeech
Summary: When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but things don't always go as palnned, especially with Tsunade and Kiba in the mix. NejiSakuKiba ON HIATUS
1. What Not to Say to Hyuga Neji

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 1

**Word Count:** 2,277

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba  
**  
****Author's Note:** Hey, everybody, I'm here with my first ever Naruto fanfic. Actually, it's my first ever fanfic, period. I'm so excited! I hope you all like it. Since I'm new and all, I don't know how much flaming I can take, so please don't be too hard on me! However, I am happy to accept any and all story/pairing suggestions (although I won't necessarily use them, obviously), constructive criticism (don't criticize me just to criticize me – that never helps anyone), or anything else you might want to add (like telling me how much you like my story – hint hint). Anyways, on to the story, but first:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. The only Naruto things I own are some manga books.

* * *

**Chapter 1: What Not to Say to Hyuga Neji**

Haruno Sakura yawned as she open her eyes. She wondered why she was awake. She hadn't heard her alarm go off…what the- it was almost an hour before she usually woke up! She _always_ woke up when her alarm clock went off, and then it was with much muttering and dark looks at it. Why the hell wasn't she sleeping?! _'Ah well,'_ she thought with a sigh, _'I doubt I'll be able to fall asleep again. Might as well get a start on the day.'_ Smiling a bit to herself, she quickly donned her regular red outfit, ran a brush through her hair, and grabbed some toast on her way out. Tying on her hatai-ate, Sakura walked along the path, not really looking where she was going. The sky was much more interesting. _'I wonder why I feel so happy right now,'_ she thought. _'Wow, the sky looks so blue today, and so open. I wonder what it would be like to fly in it.'_

Daydreaming as she was, Sakura didn't notice anyone around her until she ran right into someone, who almost fell over. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't see you –"

"Aw, that's okay, Sakura. No serious injuries," said the person she had run into with a grin.

"- Kiba-san," Sakura finished, smiling back at him. Suddenly, she was knocked backwards by a large, furry blur, which had rammed itself into her. Sakura landed on her back with a small "oof," but started giggling as the fuzzy thing standing over her began to madly lick her face and wag its tail. "Well, it's good to see you, too, Akamaru," Sakura said to the dog with a grin.

"Ack," Kiba exclaimed "Akamaru, get off Sakura before you suffocate her!" Akamaru huffed disappointedly at Kiba before reluctantly allowing the small kunoichi to right herself

"It's okay," Sakura said as she stood and brushed herself off. "After all, he's just a big sweetie, aren't you, Akamaru?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed his head affectionately, while said dog woofed in agreement.

"If only you knew," said Kiba, eyeing the dog, who had just let out a contented sigh and was now snuggling himself in Sakura's arms. He thought Akamaru was looking a bit too full of himself. "Lucky little devil," Kiba muttered under his breath.

Sakura stopped scratching the top of Akamaru's head. "Sorry, Kiba-san," she said, still smiling, "did you say something?" Akamaru whined in protest at the change of her attention, and Sakura immediately resumed her scratching, while still looking at Kiba.

"No, no, nothing," he replied. With that, she returned her full attention to Akamaru, who was giving Kiba a _very_ smug look.

Suddenly, Akamaru's ears pricked. He raised his head off of Sakura's elbow, sniffing the air. Breaking her hold, he raced down the street. "Akamaru!" Sakura shouted before following, Kiba close behind. "Kiba-san, do you know what's wrong with Akamaru?" she asked.

"Not exactly, but he must smell something." he replied. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang and a crash, near where Akamaru had finally skidded to a stop.

The site that greeted them was enough to make almost anyone turn tail and run for their lives: one pissed off Hyuuga. Looking around, they quickly spotted the cause of Hyuuga Neji's – ahem – intense annoyance: the one, the only, Uzumaki Naruto, who was, at the moment, trying to pull himself out from under a pile of debris (the supposed cause of the crash). Neji, on the other hand, was busy rifling for the kunai with which to gouge out Naruto's innards. Moving quickly, Sakura placed herself between the two of them and said (or, really, almost yelled) "Neji-san, stop it!"

For a moment, Neji froze, shocked. Standing in between him and the chosen object of his anger was a small, pink-haired, green-eyed kunoichi. Not only that, but she had just told _him_, Hyuuga Neji, to "stop it." Narrowing his eyes, he glared at her. "What did you just say, Haruno?" he asked coldly. He thought he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes, but she quickly controlled it and held her ground. Neji was mildly impressed. Normally his glare would have been enough to make just about anyone back down instantly.

"I said," Sakura repeated herself, "to stop it, Neji-san." He looked at her for a moment more, then slowly relaxed into a (slightly) less threatening stance. "Now, what did your over-active mouth get you into this time, Naruto?" she asked the still-hyper 17-year-old.

"What!" Naruto yelled indignantly. "I didn't do anything! All I said was that I was thinking of asking Hinata-chan out, and he went into fire-breathing-dragon mode on me!"

'_Ah, so that's what this is about,'_ Sakura thought. _'Hmmm, interesting. I'm going to have to look into that some more.'_ She turned to Neji, grinning, but before she could say anything, he beat her to it.

"What are you smirking about, Haruno?" Neji demanded, a bit of his former anger resurfacing. Was she making fun of him!?

"What, Neji-san, you don't approve of Naruto?" she asked innocently.

Neji narrowed his eyes until they were nothing more than slits. "I don't see how it's any of your business, one way or the other." Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say.

Sakura's current expression disappeared, replaced by sudden anger. Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes. How dare he! "That, Neji-san, is where you're wrong," Sakura said, her calm voice belying her anger.

Neji's jaw dropped (although his pride automatically prevented it from dropping too far). His expression was matched, if a bit more exaggerated, on Naruto and Kiba's faces. _No_ one talked to Hyuuga Neji like that. _Ever._ And yet, here was a slip of a medic-nin, talking to him just like that.

Sakura continued. "Naruto is like a brother to me, and Hinata is one of my best friends. As such, it is completely my business. Being Hinata's cousin, it is completely understandable that you want to look out for her. In fact, if some leech tried to hook himself onto her, I'd want to throw in a couple of punches myself. But this is Naruto we're talking about, here. He may open his mouth without thinking, but we both know he would never intentionally hurt Hinata. You may want to protect her, as is your right as her cousin, but it certainly is not within your rights to prevent her from being happy, no matter how good your intensions are!" By then she was almost shouting, but with that, she shut her mouth and waited for a response.

Neji had gone into a state of shock. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but nothing would come out. He wasn't used to this sort of a situation, and was at a complete loss of words. Salvaging what pride he could, he turned on his heel and stalked off, fuming.

……………………

Neji couldn't believe it. Some little girl had left him floundering for words. Him! Hyuuga Neji! Genius member of one of the most illustrious clans of Konoha! How had she managed that? It was impossible! Intolerable! Inconceivable! He would not stand for it! Although, he had to admit (very grudgingly), that it must have taken a lot of guts to stand up to him and then start yelling. In fact, most of those who had ever insulted him (or suggested a particular interest in Hinata, as Naruto had learned the hard way) did not live to tell they tale. Or, at the very least, never made the same mistake twice, after they got out of the hospital. He didn't know why he hadn't set that Haruno girl straight. Well, she hadn't really insulted him, per se, but she had sufficiently wounded his pride! Damn her!

There were only three ways he could think of to take his mind off this problem: 1, meditate; 2, train until he dropped; or 3, plot his diabolical revenge (okay, so that wouldn't exactly take his mind off his "problem" – quite the opposite really – but it would probably make him feel better, at least). At this point, he doubted even he could meditate. Sakura had railed him up too much for that. Training until he dropped sounded tempting, but, once again, he most likely wouldn't be able to focus enough to be productive at all. Again, how had she done it? How was it she was able to get under his skin so easily? Almost nothing could do that, or do it enough to get a proper reaction from him.

So, all that left option number 3: plot his diabolical revenge. Yes, that was good. That was very good. He couldn't seem to get the annoying girl out of his head anyways, so this was perfect. Grinning a bit to himself, and causing anyone who happened to be walking nearby him to move as far away as possible, Neji began scheming Mission: Avenge His Injured Pride.

……………………

Sakura turned to see Naruto and Kiba staring at her open-mouthed. "Wow," whispered Naruto, his eyes wide.

"What?" Sakura asked the astonished boys.

"Oh, I don't know," said Kiba, his expression changing to a cross between admiration and a face-splitting grin. "You just stood between a pissed off Neji and his target-of-choice, told him off for it, left him speechless, and sufficiently wounded his nearly immeasurable pride, all in the course of a few minutes. Quite an accomplishment, I'd say, especially since I'm sure all that stuff pretty much never happens to him."

She looked surprised. _'Hmph,'_ Sakura thought, _'I guess I did. I didn't even really realize what I was doing.'_

"Well, he's had it coming to him for a while now," she told them both. "_Someone_ needed to knock him down a peg or twelve."

"Yeah," said Naruto, his expression similar to Kiba's. "Way to go, Sakura-chan!" he shouted, his smile stretching from ear to ear and giving her two thumbs-up signs. "You sure showed him!"

"Uh-huh, and saved your sorry butt in the process, lucky for you," she told him. "You really need to think before you open that big fat mouth of yours."

"But I only said I wanted to ask out Hinata-chan!" Naruto protested. "How was I supposed to know he'd try to kill me over it?"

"Well, Hinata-chan _is_ his cousin, and in case you're still as thick-headed as you've always been, he's grown just a bit protective of her," Kiba told him. Akamaru barked his agreement. "Not to mention, that's pretty much how _you_ act when someone you don't 'approve of' tries to ask Sakura out. Which is almost always."

"That's not true!" protested Naruto loudly.

"Yeah, actually, it is," said Sakura.

"Well, maybe, a little," Naruto relented. "But a lot of those guys are bastards anyways. You wouldn't want to date any of them! You should be thanking me!"

"Admit it, Naruto," Sakura told him. "You and Neji-san are the same: you're both way over-protective. Neither of you seem to approve of anyone."

"She's got a point there, Naruto. Anyone who wants to ask out either of them has to first get past you self-proclaimed older brothers." Kiba grin was, if possible, only growing wider. He found all of this immensely amusing.

"I'm nothing like him!" Naruto exclaimed, outraged that Sakura would even _suggest_ he was anything like Neji. He ignored Kiba's last comment. It was too true.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh, while Kiba just laughed. _'It's not often you get to see Naruto told off like that anymore,' _he thought. _'Most people wouldn't dare. Although I bet Sakura does it often enough. _Somebody_ has to keep him in check, and no one can do it quite like she can. Man, Neji's face was priceless!'_ He snickered. _'I'd better watch out, though, she's on a role today!'_

"Anyways, Naruto, you're serious about asking Hinata out?" Sakura asked, curious. This could be very interesting, since, the last time she checked, Hinata still had a major crush on Naruto.

"You bet!" Naruto yelled, punching his fist into the air. He then leaned his arm on her shoulder.

"So…" Kiba said, also leaning his arm casually on her shoulder. He was taking a chance on that. He wasn't quite sure if she would let him do it, as he wasn't one of her closer friends, but after glancing at it (and causing Kiba to hold his breath), she didn't object, and he left it there. He continued in a news-reporter type voice. "So, Haruno Sakura, you have just succeeded in what was thought to be impossible (aka, making Hyuuga Neji back down from something). What do you plan to do now?"

"Well," Sakura answered him, "I was planning on going to Ichiraku for some ramen." She smiled. "On me, if you guys want to tag along."

"**OH YEAH, FREE RAMEN!**" Naruto shouted, ecstatic (predictably). He raced off ahead, leaving behind Kiba, slightly uncomfortable now, with his arm still on Sakura's shoulder.

"Hey you!" she shouted and began jogging after him. "I'm only paying for one bowl for that bottomless pit you call a stomach!"

"YEAH, BUT IT'S STILL FREE RAMEN!" Naruto, completely unfazed, called back over his shoulder.

Sakura laughed at her crazy friend's antics. Kiba, just walking, smiled. He liked the sound of her laugh. He would have to get her to do that more often.

Akamaru trotted up to Sakura, looking to see if he could get her attention again, which, of course, he did. She slowed to a walk, petting him the whole way.

Yup, that dog was looking _far_ too smug with himself. _'Lucky little devil,'_ Kiba though.

* * *

AN: Hey, everybody! So? What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Don't really give a damn either way? I hope it was the first! I am having trouble deciding something. At first I wanted to make a NejiSaku fic, because I love that pairing, but then I read some KibaSaku fics and I thought it was really cute, so now I don't know which one to do. Sorry Sasuke fans, but this is _not_ going to be a SasuSaku fic. Sasuke just makes me mad, what with his high-and-mighty, I-may-really-care-about-you-but-I-need-to-avenge-my-family-so-I-won't-show-it thing; so, in here, Sakura got over her him a while ago.


	2. When Tsunade Gets Involved

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 2

**Word Count:** 2,756

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto. I'm only a little bitter about it.

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**Chapter 2: When Tsunade Gets Involved**

Tsunade sighed as she watched her pink-haired apprentice leave after reporting in at the end of her shift. _'I can't believe that girl is still single,'_ she thought. When _she_ was 17, she'd lost track of how many boys she'd dated. She could have gotten any guy she wanted. Sakura could, too, if she wanted. Hell, the girl was gorgeous. She turned heads wherever she went, and it's not like there was a shortage of guys who would be very willing to go out with her. But she just wasn't interested. Tsunade sighed again. That was part of the problem. Sakura didn't _want_ a boyfriend. Ever since that damn Uchiha brat let, she hadn't seemed to care about anyone else like that. Tsunade knew that Sakura had gotten over the boy, but after such a traumatic first love she just didn't want to be hurt like that again, to have her heart broken again. Not that the Hokage blamed her, but she was so cautious she didn't give anyone a try.

Tsunade began to fiddle with the papers on her desk. _'The other problem is Naruto,'_ she thought. That boy was excessively over-protective of Sakura. If any other guy so mach as looked at her in a way he didn't like, he'd be at their throats. Of course, plenty of those guys were bastards anyways, so it may have been a good thing at times, but Sakura would never get a boyfriend if none of the good guys were even given a chance. She looked down at her desk and sighed again, this time for a different reason. _'I _hate_ paperwork. I'd much rather be getting Sakura-chan a boyfriend…'_ Tsunade froze. _'Yes, a boyfriend,'_ she thought. _'If Sakura won't get herself one, I'll just have to help her find one.'_

A slow grin was spreading across the Hokage's face. She rummaged through her papers, looking for a blank piece. Finding one she got to work. She quickly wrote down all the ninja around Sakura's age. When she finished, she began to cross out the unlikely candidates. Uzumaki Naruto – no, he was _too_ close to Sakura. What had started as Sakura hating his guts and Naruto crushing on her had turned into a brother-sister relationship. Besides, if she was as well-informed as she thought she was, Naruto was currently interested in Hyuuga Hinata. _'Hmmm…'_ she thought, _'I might have to look into that later.'_ Next was Nara Shikamaru – nope, he was already taken, by Yamanaka Ino, if she remembered correctly. Akimichi Choji – not likely. Aburame Shino – same. Rock Lee – oh, gods no, she couldn't do that to poor Sakura. That particular boy may have been head-over-heals for her, and Sakura may have grown somewhat fond of him, but she had never liked him the way he liked her. Plus, if he was as much like his Master Gai as he seemed, well…Tsunade wasn't _that_ evil.

Hmmm…that left Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Neji. Inuzuka was the most likely of the two, although…it could be fun to mess with the Hyuuga. She would have to check in on both of them to see what they thought of Konoha's top medic-nin (under herself, of course). Then again, maybe she would just talk to one of Neji's teammates. It would be hard to approach him on a subject like that and get the desired results. That Tenten girl might do it. Still, it would be easier just to start with Kiba.

Sending a summons out to the Inuzuka, the Godaime sat back and waited.

……………………

She didn't have to wait long. Kiba soon came, but with him was an unexpected (and uninvited) guest. "What are you doing here, Naruto?" she said. "I specifically asked for Inuzuka here, not you!"

"But Tsunade-baachan, I want to tell you about something!" Naruto told her. He promptly had an unfortunate incident involving his face and one of Tsunade's fists.

"Owww!" Naruto complained. "What was that for?!"

"It's Tsunade-sama to you, idiot." She turned to Kiba. "What do you know about Haruno Sakura?"

When she said this, both boys looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.

"What?!" Tsunade demanded. "What's so funny?!"

Unfortunately, neither of them was able to answer her. They were to busy clutching their stomachs from laughing. Naruto almost fell over.

"Well," began Kiba, when he was finally able to talk, "I know she just recently left a certain Hyuuga speechless."

"That's what I wanted to tell you about," Naruto added. They glanced at each other and both went back into fits of laughter.

"What!?" she practically yelled. "You mean Hyuuga _Neji_? _The_ Hyuuga Neji!? How did she do that?!" This was unexpected, to say the least...but definitely worth some investigation.

"Well," started Naruto (still chuckling to himself), "Neji was pissed at me because I had just said I liked Hinata-chan and wanted to ask her out."

'_I was right. He does like Hinata.'_ thought Tsunade.

"He had just knocked Naruto into a wall when we found them," added Kiba.

"We?" asked Tsunade.

"Sakura and me." Kiba told her.

"And what were you doing with Sakura-chan?" Tsunade asked him, interested. Maybe there was something there.

"We had run into each other and started talking. Anyway, Akamaru smelled Neji's angry charka, and went to investigate. We followed him, and when Sakura saw what was going on, she went and stood between him and Naruto, and told Neji to stop."

"Well," said Tsunade.

"Uh-huh," said Naruto. "Neji actually stopped, too! Then, when she asked why Neji was so angry, and I told I had said I wanted to ask out Hinata-chan, _he_ said that it wasn't any of her business, one way or the other. That sure pissed Sakura-chan off quick!" Naruto shuddered at the thought of the angry Sakura.

"She told him that it _was_ her business," Kiba continued for him, "since Naruto is like a brother to her and Hinata-chan is one of her best friends. She told him that Naruto would never intentionally hurt Hinata-chan. Then she told him off, and that he may be her cousin, but that didn't mean he had the right to keep her from being happy, 'no matter how good his intensions were.'" Tsunade though she heard some admiration in his voice.

Naruto gleefully added his favorite part, "After that, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. He actually didn't know what to say! Sakura-chan is so awesome!" He punched the air. Naruto definitely had some admiration in his voice.

Tsunade sat back in her chair. "Wow," she said. "I knew that Sakura was tough, but I never knew that she could do _that_. I mean, this is Hyuuga Neji we're talking about. No one says stuff like that to him without getting severely hurt." A sudden thought occurred to her. "He didn't hurt her or anything, did he?"

"No, he just stalked off," said Kiba.

"Good, because _I_ would have hurt him if he had." Tsunade smiled. This was perfect. She might not even need to talk to Tenten. "Alright, boys, you can leave. And thank you, you've both helped me make a very important decision."

They looked at each other in confusion. "We have?" asked Kiba.

"How?" asked Naruto.

"Don't worry," Tsunade told them with a grin, "you'll find out soon enough."

……………………

The fifth Hokage looked at her list again after Kiba and Naruto had left. Yes, she would work on both Kiba and Neji. It was apparent that Sakura had left quite the impression on Kiba. Hell, anyone would have after seeing her tell off Neji. Even Neji would have to admit that took some guts. She snickered. Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

Now, she would have to figure out how to get the three of them together. _'I could send them on a mission'_ she thought. _'Yes, a nice long mission together. If they have to spend time with each other, one of them will no doubt fall for her. The problem would be getting Sakura to fall for one of them.'_ Well, she would deal with that, _if_ such a thing happened. Which she doubted. She knew from experience that you tend to learn to like, or at least get along with, the people you were stuck with. Just look at Sakura. She didn't hate Naruto's guts anymore, after being stuck with him for years. Besides, her plans were too perfect not to work.

'_Hmmm…I can't leave Sakura-chan alone with those two, though,'_ she thought. _'Not that she can't take of herself or anything, but she'll need some feminine support for any emotional crisis that may come along.'_ Tsunade searched her mind for possible candidates for the position. _'Hinata will work. Not only is she Neji's cousin, but she's also Kiba's teammate. She'll know how to handle both of them.'_ The Godaime was then struck with another brilliant thought. _'And if I send Naruto with them, I could kill two birds with one stone. Although it might complicate things a little, what with Neji and Naruto being their over-protective selves. Ah well, they'll work it out.'_ She paused. She'd better send someone who was not going to be psychologically distressed at one point or another. Tenten would probably work. She was friends with Sakura and Hinata, not to mention Neji's teammate.

Tsunade, with a self-satisfied smile, leaned back into her chair. Now all she needed to do was choose which mission to send the six of them (or seven, if you wanted to include Akamaru) on. Her only regret was not being there to see her plans unfold. Maybe she would inform Tenten of her scheme, so the girl would know and be able to give her blow-by-blow details of all her hard work. A small voice told her that it wasn't really any of her business whether Sakura was single or not, but Tsunade was having much too much fun playing matchmaker to listen to that particular very, very, _very_ small voice. Yes, this was _much_ better than paperwork! Her apprentice was going to be happy whether she wanted to be or not!

……………………

Neji was annoyed. Some little person had _dared_ to interrupt him while he was plotting, just to tell him that the Hokage wanted to talk with him. Didn't they know he was busy?! He growled, sufficiently scaring them off. With a slight smile, he went back to plotting his revenge against She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Mentioned. Now, if he just…wait…the Hokage wanted to talk with him!? "Damn!" he muttered as he raced to her office. He was still annoyed at being interrupted, but when the Hokage wanted to talk with you, you didn't tell her no.

……………………

The cosmoses were against him. Neji had reached Tsunade's office, only to find that Sakura, Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Tenten were already there. Not only that, but the Hokage had actually told him, while _smiling_, that the six of them were going on a mission together. The six of them! It was a conspiracy, he just knew it, and Tsunade was at the center of it. She was honestly putting him with Sakura, the source of his problems! He would be stuck with her, and…

Neji paused in his mental rantings. Wait. He would be stuck with her, which meant that she would be stuck with him. This could work in his favor. It would be the perfect opportunity to finish and enact his master plan. And if he didn't go, Naruto would be alone (well, not alone, but he might as well be for all they'd try to stop him from whatever he would get up to) with Hinata. He was not about to let _that_ happen. He would just have to deal with being within sight of them all.

……………………

Sakura regarded at her sensei suspiciously. She had learned over the years that Tsunade only smiled like that when she was enormously pleased with herself. What she was so pleased about, Sakura wasn't sure, but it usually involved her successfully sticking her nose into someone else's personal affairs. She was definitely up to something.

Her worst fears were confirmed when her teacher gave her _that_ smile, the smile she smiled when she knew that you knew she was up to something, and she wanted to convince you otherwise. What exactly she was up to was hard to say, but it meant trouble for someone. Sakura had a bad feeling that that someone was in this room.

……………………

Kiba couldn't believe it. The Hokage had put Neji, Naruto, and Sakura on the same team, on the same mission. Neji was probably still pissed at Naruto for being "overly interested" in Hinata, and Sakura for stopping him from beating Naruto to a bloody pulp. Neji probably wasn't to too happy with him, either, for witnessing Sakura's verbal victory over him. Tsunade should know that. He had told her what had happened himself! Was she crazy?!

Then again, he would be on a mission with his old teammate, Hinata, again. They hadn't done that in a while. And he would get to spend some time with Sakura. He had been wanting to get to know her more, and had regretted not doing so before this. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

……………………

Naruto was excited. Tsunade had put him on a mission with Sakura and Hinata. Maybe he would finally get a chance to ask her out (after they got back from the mission, of course.) The only problem was Neji. He was coming, too, and probably wouldn't like it if he did that. Well, Neji would just have to deal with it. Naruto liked Hinata too much to let a little thing like Hyuuga Neji stop him.

……………………

Hinata was so excited. She was going to be on a mission with Naruto! And with Sakura, Kiba, Tenten, and Neji, too! This mission could be a lot of fun, with her friends. It had been a while since she had been on a mission with them, especially Kiba.

……………………

Tenten wasn't sure what exactly to think. She had a sneaking suspicion that Tsunade was up to something, what with that smile on her face. She looked far too happy with herself for someone telling her ninja, especially her favorite apprentice, that they were going on a potentially dangerous mission. Something more was going on than Tsunade was saying.

……………………

Tsunade smiled at the shinobi in front of her. They all just looked so _thrilled_. Well, maybe "thrilled" wasn't exactly accurate. Naruto and Hinata seemed okay, while Kiba appeared a bit nervous. Tenten was throwing her wary glances, Sakura was looking at her suspiciously (Tsunade gave her _that_ smile, the especially sweet and innocent what-would-I-possibly-be-up-to? smile), and Neji…well, Neji just looked like he wanted to kill something (although Tsunade couldn't _possibly_ imagine what), which, as she watched, turned to a slight grin.

_That_ couldn't be good. She had better get him out of her office fast. Neji never went from a I-want-to-kill-something look to a smile. Hell, he never went from anything to a smile. He didn't smile, period. The only time he might was when he was either imagining or experiencing some sort of victory, which generally involved something somewhat unpleasant (for the other person, that is). _'Time to wrap things up,'_ she thought.

"Well, you all got that?" she said. "You'll be going on a reconnaissance mission. Your objective is to investigate the disturbances near the border. There has been suspicious activities going on, and I want you all to find out what. A warning to you all: we suspect it might be rouge ninja from Sound, preparing an attack. Remember, though, your objective is not to defeat them then and there." She gave Neji and Naruto an especially stern look as she said this. "Get an idea of what's actually going on, and possibly how many and how much of a threat it is. Then, return here so that we can prepare properly."

Tsunade looked around at all of them. "This is a direct order: do not fight unless absolutely necessary. If things look bad and they find you before completing the mission, pull back. I don't want to lose any of you, not now. Understand?" They all nodded, although Neji and Naruto looked a bit sullen. "Alright then. Neji, you are in charge. Tenten, you are second in command. Now, dismissed."

As they filed out, Tsunade called out one last thing, "Oh, Tenten, could you stay after for a moment?"

* * *

AN: Heh heh heh… This is going to be so much fun! Tsunade is getting involved, and she won't be satisfied until Sakura is no longer single (heh heh, oh the wonderful evilness of it all. Poor Sakura. She doesn't stand a chance.) Any guesses as to who it will be? Well, read on and just maybe you'll find out. (Hint-hint: I'm a sucker for love triangles.)


	3. And She Drags Tenten Along With Her

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 3

**Word Count:** 842

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That privilege belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. For now.

* * *

**Chapter 3: And She Drags Tenten Along With Her**

Tenten couldn't believe it. _'She is honestly trying to hook up Sakura, with Neji or Inuzuka no less. I can only imagine how this will turn out.'_ Still, she was glad the Hokage had let her in on this. It was her personal opinion (along with all of her friends) that Sakura needed to find a guy for herself. Tsunade just happened to come up with a plan for it.

XxX_Flashback_XxX

"Tenten, a very important problem has come to my attention," said the Hokage as she paced in front of her desk. "Do you know what that problem might be?"

"No, Tsunade-sama."

"Then I'll tell you. It would appear that my dear, dear apprentice is regretfully single. I believe that, seeing as she does not seem inclined to find a boyfriend herself, it is up to others, such as ourselves, to do so."

Tenten couldn't think of anything to say. She just stared, sure of where Tsunade's little speech was going.

"That is why I set up this mission the way I did. There is Sakura and the two candidates, Neji and Kiba, stuck together with no choice but to get to know each other. There is Hinata, who is a former teammate of Kiba and a relation to Neji, so she will know how to handle the two of them. She'll also be there to provide any emotional support that Sakura-chan might need. Naruto is there to kill two birds with one stone: to help on the mission, and possibly get him together with Hinata. He might prove to be a difficulty with finding a boyfriend for Sakura-chan…"

Tenten tried in vain to muffle her laugh with her hand. So true.

"but he'll keep the boys in line. And that includes any ones that you might run into on your trip."

"So what do you need me for?" Tenten asked. "You seem to have everything already covered."

"Ah, but you are absolutely necessary. With Naruto there, Hinata may need some help as well. Not to mention, it would be three boys to two girls, and we can't have that for such a delicate mission, now can we? You were a teammate of Neji's, the most difficult of this little team, and will know how best to handle him should something go awry."

Tenten wasn't sure anyone could handle Neji when he was in one of his moods, but how much trouble could there be?

Tenten obviously hadn't heard of the Naruto/Neji/Sakura incident yet.

"You're most important reason for participating, however, is to inform me of everything when you get back. I want to know all the juicy details of my latest matchmaking work."

Tenten could only imagine what had happened to the last people the Godaime had played matchmaker for. And if they had retained all of their sanity. Honestly, the idea sounded a little farfetched to her to work as well or as smoothly as Tsunade obviously believed it would. Neji certainly wasn't the easiest person to get along with. At least Sakura had some options…

"Now, any questions?"

"Just one," said Tenten. "Are there actually any disturbances at the boarder, or is that just a convenient reason to stick the three of them together, which also happens to be a conveniently long distance from the village?"

"You _are_ sharp, I see," said Tsunade. "Yes, there have in fact been some reports of unusual activity near the boarder. However, it is doubtful that it could be nearly as large a threat as I made out to be, and as doubtful that it is because of Sound."

"All right then, until I return from the mission," Tenten said with a bow and left.

XxX_endFlashback_XxX

So now, Tenten was on two missions; not only the one her teammates had been assigned, but another, far more dangerous one. It was Mission: Get Sakura a Boyfriend.

……………………

After traveling for several hours, the team decided to stop and make camp. Everything was peaceful (well, as much as can be expected) until there was a small disagreement as to the sleeping arrangements. Or, rather, an absolute refusal.

"I absolutely refuse to share an enclosed space with those two imbeciles," declared Neji.

"What do you mean, 'those two imbeciles?!'" demanded Naruto.

"I mean," said Neji in a bored voice, "that you and Inuzuka are idiots, and I will not be sharing a tent with you.

"What-" spluttered Kiba.

"_Must_ I repeat myself for you? You. Are. Both.-"

"Neji, unless you brought your own tent, there isn't really anything we can do about it, now is there? Unless you want to sleep in the open…"

"Actually, I was more thinking that they could sleep outside while I took the tent," Neji replied. "But I foresaw a problem like this, so I packed my own personal tent."

"Then why are you making such a fuss?" asked Sakura.

"Because it amuses me to watch them splutter," he answered.

"Hey!-" spluttered Naruto and Kiba in perfect unison.

"I rest my case," said Neji as he began to pitch his tent.


	4. Call Me Sakura

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 4

**Word Count:** 581

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would get over himself, Sakura would get over Sasuke (and she would have kicked Ino's ass, then proceeded to the next level of the Chuunin exams, where she would have kicked more ass), and Orochimaru would stop being a power-hungry bastard with a disturbing interest in young boys who have yet to hit puberty (hmm. I wonder if his nose has ever fallen off).

* * *

**Chapter 4: Call Me Sakura**

"Excuse me, Neji-san." Neji was snapped out of his self-therapy session (a.k.a., plotting his diabolical revenge) by the very last person he wanted to see. Or hear, for that matter.

"What do you want, Haruno-san?" he asked her coolly, determined not to let her get the best of him this round. He was Hyuuga Neji, after all. He could keep his cool.

Sakura sighed. "You're sitting on my bag, Hyuuga-san," she told him. "Could you please move?"

"Hn," was his only reply as he moved just enough for her to retrieve her pack. However, he noticed her new formality. _'Since when did she use my surname?'_ She must have somehow sensed his surprise (it might have had something to do with his eyebrows disappearing under his hatai-ate), because she answered his unspoken question.

"Well, you always seem to call me 'Haruno' or 'Haruno-san.' Since you appear to prefer that, I just thought you'd prefer it if I did the same." She said this all while rummaging through her pack, searching intently for some item or another.

"What, would you rather that I call you 'Sakura?'" Neji sneered. This sneer was stopped cold in its tracks when Sakura returned it with a grin.

"Yes," she replied, "yes, as a matter of fact, I would. You're not that much older than me, after all." Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she let out an "Aha!" as she pulled out the object of her intense search: a frying pan. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "Thought you could hide from me, did you?" Sakura demanded the inanimate object, much to Neji's confusion. "Well, bye!" she called to him, flashing another grin as she made her way to where Naruto and Kiba were almost finished building a fire.

Once again, Sakura left Neji with his mouth slightly agape and odd sense of shock. He quickly recovered himself, schooling his features into their default blank look. Still, he certainly had things to maul over in his mind. _'Here I was, scheming against her, and she not only tells me to call her "Sakura," but she smiles at me. Twice!'_ It would make his life so much easier if she would quit smiling at him and making his stomach do things he was quite sure it was not supposed to do. In fact, he would be very grateful if she just left him alone all together.

Quietly, Neji experimented to himself. "Sakura." No, that was too informal, too awkward for him. "Sakura-san." Yes, that was better. It felt odd, saying her name like that, but not in a bad way.

Absorbed as he was in his thoughts, Neji did not notice the two pairs of eyes watching him not far off, listening to every word that passed between him and Sakura.

……………………

Hinata and Tenten managed to get several yards from camp before they burst into helpless fits of laughter.

"Did you see his face?!" giggled Tenten. "That look was priceless!"

"Yes," Hinata wheezed. "I thought I would die from not laughing."

"If that didn't kill you, Neji might have, if he found us," Tenten said. "Well, not you, but me. My death wish would have been that I'd had a camera, though." She giggled again.

"We'll just have to imprint the image upon our memories forever," Hinata told her.

"Or, we could just wait until the next time Sakura and Neji have a conversation," replied Tenten with a grin. They were both, once again, overcome with laughter.


	5. Take A Picture

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 5

**Word Count:** 901

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: Hmm, let's think about this, shall we? This site is called fanfiction . net and I'm writing this here, so… Nope, I don't own Naruto.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Take A Picture**

Neji was sitting in a tree. Although this would probably seem a bit odd to anyone else, Neji actually had a very good reason. As it happened, he was using the tree as cover to watch a certain pink-haired kunoichi play some sort of game with Akamaru. What the annoying man-mutt was doing, Neji didn't know, nor did he really care. He was more focused on the girl he had sworn revenge upon. He probably wasn't far away, though, as his dog was here with Sakura. As he observed them, she threw a stick, laughing as the dog would race off after it and then run back, prize in mouth, earning him a pat on the head and another throw. It all seemed rather pointless to Neji, but then again, it was Sakura; she was like that: confusing and seemingly pointless.

In fact, that was why he was crouching where he was, watching her. He needed to study her, to gather information about her, because, at the moment, he had very little. Then, when he determined that he had sufficient intelligence on her, he could assess her weaknesses and formulate the perfect revenge, specific to Haruno Sakura. No, he was not obsessed; Neji just liked to stick to his word. If he said he was going to enact a diabolical revenge, then he was going to enact a diabolical revenge. Simple as that. Naruto appeared to have other plans, though.

"Hey Neji! What are you doing up in a tree?" Neji looked down, annoyed.

"Leave me alone, dobe," he said. "I'm busy." Naruto pouted.

"Fine, _be_ that way, Mr. Rude-Much," he said childishly. Neji's eyebrow twitched. "I try to talk to you, but no, the Ice Cube's gotta chill and be anti-social in a tree. Which is obviously _much_ better company than an actual living, breathing, _talking_ human being."

"Quite. Now shut it, Uzumaki, I told you, I'm busy-" Poor Neji. He never had a chance. Because of his distraction, he did not see the stick coming at his head. He did see little stars afterward, though. They were very pretty.

Neji shook his head, trying to regain his composure. He really should have been trying to regain his balance instead though, as he found that the branch he had been standing on was suddenly _above_ his head. Now that couldn't be right…

"Neji-san!" He saw Sakura running towards him from his upside-down position on the ground. "Oh, Neji-san, are you alright?"

Oh, yes, of course he was alright. He'd only been hit in the head with a stick thrown by the freakishly strong Hokage's apprentice. He could shake this off, he was a shinobi after all, and not just any shinobi either. He was a Hyu- damn, did it hurt.

"Watch where you're throwing things, kunoichi," Neji growled, trying to cover up his pain and (still) lack of a proper sense of up and down.

Sakura frowned at his words as she picked up the stick, which had fallen with Neji. "Well, I'm sorry," she said. "How was I supposed to know you'd taken to sitting in trees for some obscure reason? And I've told you before: I have a name."

"Well, next time, just don't aim for me."

"Yes, because I so have it in for you."

"Apparently." Neji growled. "Now, leave me alone, you annoying woman." Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Uhh," said, Naruto, trying to intervene and prevent unnecessary bloodshed. "Guys, it's okay, I'm sure-"

"Stay out of this!" The two angry shinobi turned their equally angry glares on him.

"O-okay," Naruto stuttered.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't call me that!" Sakura said hotly. "I told you, I have a name, not just a title. How would you like it if I called you 'aggravating bastard' all the time?" Oh, that was the last straw.

"Fight me," growled Neji suddenly.

"What?" asked Sakura in surprise.

"Fight. Me," Neji said slowly. "Right here, right now, just the two of us, one-to-one, you against me-"

"No."

"What?" now it was Neji's turn to say in surprise.

"No," Sakura said slowly. "Don't be impractical, Neji-san."

"Impractical!" Neji shouted. This drew the attention of the other three, who stopped what they were doing to watch. They made no move to stop the two, though. Even Naruto now knew better than to interfere in a fight involving Sakura or Neji, and this one involved both. Neither of them noticed the attention.

"Maybe that stick hit you harder than you thought. Yes, impractical. Think about it, Neji-san." She tapped his forehead protector with her stick. "If either you or I gets injured, which would be very likely to happen, we would become burdens and slow the team down. Not only that, but fighting would generate enough noise and charka-release to attract unwanted attention, which could jeopardize the mission itself, not to mention all of us. I hope that's not what you want. Now, if you'll excuse me…" With a triumphant smile at Neji's still-surprised face, Sakura returned to her game with Akamaru.

Neji was left with a shocked expression, an open mouth, and an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. He suddenly noticed Naruto, Tenten, Kiba, and Hinata looking at him.

"Take a picture," he snapped irritably. "It'll last longer." He stormed off into his tent.

……………………

"Damn," muttered Tenten.

"What's the matter?" asked Hinata.

"I didn't have my camera."

* * *

AN: Hey, does anyone happen to know a good site where I can get English/Japanese translations? You know, ones written all in English letters? Do those even exist? How about a site with a dictionary thing, then? I just want to find something so I can figure out what all that Japanese I'm finding means. And, I'm trying to find Japanese names for this new fic that I'm working on. Yeah, so, if anyone can help me with this, I'd greatly appreciate it!


	6. Implications: Neji's Beauty Sleep Int

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 6

**Word Count:** 2,220

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters (unfortunately). If I did, I wouldn't be putting this here, I would actually be putting it in the story. Duh.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Implications: Neji's Beauty Sleep Interrupted**

Neji's beauty sleep was rudely interrupted by a shriek. He growled in frustration. Didn't they know he had to have a certain amount of sleep in order to maintain any form of patience with (most) of these people?! Suddenly it dawned on him that they could actually be under attack; cursing, he ran out.

Instead of attacking enemies, Neji saw only Sakura, sitting a few feet from her tent. Her hair was a mess (she had obviously only just woken up as well), and her eyes were wide as she stared at where she was supposed to be sleeping peacefully. Tenten and Hinata poked their heads from the tent, apparently as confused as Neji, if not more.

"Sakura, what's the-" Hinata began, but was cut off by a commotion in the third tent. It sounded as though a rampaging heard of elephants were inside it…or two boys trying to get out of their sleeping bags and tent as fast they could (a noisy feat, to be sure). Suddenly, with a shout, Naruto and Kiba fell out.

"What's going on? Who shouted?" Naruto spotted Sakura sitting on the ground. "Sakura-chan, are you alright? What happened?"

"S-s-spider," she stuttered.

Neji didn't know whether to laugh or to kill something. He settled on his infallible standby: sneering. "A spider. You're afraid of a little, probably harmless spider."

"No!" she exclaimed. "I just, don't really like them. I mean, can normally deal with them, but I opened my eyes and there it was, sitting three inches from my face and staring at me!"

"Pathetic," he scoffed. "How anyone so pathetically girly ever became a shinobi is beyond me. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." With that, Neji turned around and headed back towards his tent. He didn't get very far, though.

……………………

Naruto watched as Sakura's face flushed in anger. Uh-oh. That couldn't be good. His unease only increased as her expression changed to that of a smile, one far too sweet, innocent, and cheerful for someone who had been filled with rage a moment before. Worse still, Naruto knew that expression. It was Sakura at her very worst. She was going to make Neji regret his words.

"Uh, Sakura-chan, I'm sure Neji didn't mean it," Naruto tried.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it, dobe," Neji informed him, not turning around.

"You're really not helping anything, Neji," Naruto said back. Before Neji could reply, Sakura spoke up.

"Ever look in a mirror, Neji-san?"

Everyone froze.

……………………

Hinata and Tenten, with their heads sticking out of the tent they shared with Sakura, watched as Neji slowly turned to look where Sakura was now standing.

"Oh, she's done it now," Tenten whispered. "I can't believe she insulted him like that. Even if it wasn't the, er, snappiest of insults."

"Not many have the guts to insult Neji at all," Hinata whispered back, "Especially when he hasn't had his beauty sleep. Uh-oh. He sure looks mad." Suddenly, she grinned mischievously, something rather at odds with her usual personality. "Hey Tenten," she whispered again.

"What?"

"You still have that camera?" Hinata did have her moments though.

Tenten's grin matched hers as she dove back into the tent, grabbed her bag, and stuck her head back out, so as not to miss anything while digging for the object that could capture the significant moments, for future reference (aka blatant blackmail).

……………………

Neji glared at the green-eyed spitfire. Unfortunately, as he had already discovered, his glare was not enough to make Sakura back down. Instead, she simply smiled at him with that sickeningly sweet smile. It reminded him of Tsunade's smile. How disturbing.

"Are you implying something, kunoichi?" he growled. Ah Neji, ever quick with the accusations.

"Me?" said Sakura in mock-surprise and hurt. "Imply something? What would I possibly be implying? And I already told you, my name is Sakura."

"Alright then, _Sakura-san_, just what are you saying, then?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," she said in an airy way, still looking suspiciously innocent. "Only that your features are just a bit too much on the…feminine side for you to be making comments like that." Everyone but Neji and Sakura clutched their mouths, trying not to laugh and interrupt the beautiful, picture perfect moment (which was lucky, since Tenten just happened to have a camera). Of course, they were also afraid of attracting the attention of the two murderous-looking teens. Neji was now radiating anger so strongly it was almost palpable.

"So you're saying that I look like a woman," he spat.

"No, no, I never said _that_!" she told him. "If anyone said it, you did. But, now that you mention it, I can see what you mean. What with your pale complexion and fine features, I'm sure there are many people who could mistake you for female at a distance. Oh, and that hair of yours. I know quite a few girls who would kill for hair like that."

Ohhhhh no. She had _not_ just brought in his meticulously cared for hair into this. He spent hours his hair, as much as, and probably more than, any girl (although he would never admit to that under pain of death), and was very proud of it. Insult Neji's hair and you insult his pride, and you do not insult Hyuuga Neji's pride. Unfortunately, Sakura did not seem to know this important survival skill. Before he could say anything, however, she went right on.

"Then, there's always the question of your sexual orientation. I mean, as far as anyone knows, you've never shown any interest in a girl. Even Tenten doesn't know, and she's been your teammate for how many years? Although, in all fairness, that doesn't necessarily make you a homosexual, as you've also never shown an attraction to others of the male gender, but one really has to wonder."

……………………

Sakura suddenly found herself with her back against a tree, a hand against her throat, and Neji's face uncomfortably close to her own.

"Do you _really_ want to continue that _particular_ line of argument?" he said in a low, dangerous voice.

'_How the hell did he do that?'_ she wondered. She hadn't even seen him move, and yet here she was, held up against a tree. Then again, it was Neji. She tried to swallow, but couldn't.

"Well, why not?" she grinned, even though she could barely speak. "It's working, isn't it? I've obviously hit a nerve. Bit touchy, aren't you?"

"Fine." Neji growled. "You want proof?"

"Sure." She was still grinning, though it had faltered a bit. He wouldn't…

He did.

Sakura found her smirk completely wiped off her face by a sudden pressure against her lips. Eyes wide, it took her a few moments to register that, yes, THE Hyuuga Neji was _kissing_ her. It was one of the oddest and surprisingly pleasant things that had ever happened to her. And, rather than pulling away after making his point, Neji seemed to be trying to _deepen_ the kiss, of all things. She wondered if he even knew that he was doing that. It certainly wasn't what she had been expecting. Then again, he could just be trying to confuse her even more. Whatever he was up to, who knew that the hormonally-challenged male could be such a good kisser?

She thought she heard shouts, but Sakura couldn't make out what they were saying or who was saying it. (Her hearing difficulty may have been caused by the tongue that was currently against her lips, imploring entry.) Naruto, most likely. One voice sounded vaguely like Kiba, though.

Still, Haruno Sakura had her pride. Even if it was the undeniably hot Neji. Quickly suppressing any notions of responding otherwise, she gave the Hyuga a sharp knee to the stomach.

This, as she had expected, effectively 'persuaded' him to release her. She had considered for a moment of aiming a bit lower and hitting where the sun didn't shine, but then decided against it. She figured she had made her point well enough already. Plus, it would probably make him that much more determined to have her sorry hide. He sank to the ground with a groan.

"I think I'll go for a walk," Sakura said, sending a glare down at Neji, who was currently curled up in a fetal position on the ground. With that, she huffed out into the surrounding forest.

Neji stood up not long after and stalked off in another direction.

……………………

Neji ground his teeth in frustration. He didn't understand how it had happened, but Sakura had once again managed to come out victorious. How had she done it? He thought that kissing her (not that he had really thought it through at the time that he did it) would have caught her completely off guard, to his advantage. She had been, for a moment, but had then regained her composure much sooner than he had expected. At least, she did it before he had, and could make his graceful and victorious exit. He vaguely wondered, though, if he would have wanted to make an exit. Or could have. Damn his formerly-dormant, recently-aroused hormones. Yes, that was all it was: some raging hormones that would soon settle down into their previous state of non-function. These thoughts were not helping, though. Neji quickly reverted to his former tirade.

That damn, insufferable girl! (Yes, that was much better!) She had once again somehow ruined every one of his brilliant plans! No one did that. No one! Then again, no one dared contradict him, and yet Sakura did just that. She was so…so…amazing. Yummy, too, as a matter of fact, like-

Neji halted abruptly. That most certainly was _**not**_supposed to be there! Damn, how had he gotten back to that particular train of thought? He was supposed to, to, _despise_ Sakura, not…admire her, and like how she _tasted_, of all things. Or kissed. Her lips sure had felt nice. If only they had opened up a little more… Ergh, damn hormones! That stupid kiss had gotten them all riled up! They were probably affecting him now with such a vengeance because they were not used to such activity. Shaking his head to clear it of such unwanted thoughts, Neji tried continuing his walk, and his previous lines of thinking.

As he reflected, Neji concluded that all of his plans were just being twisted around on him. Not a very comforting notion to be sure. As much as it pained him to admit, verbal confrontation was obviously useless when it came to Sakura. Challenging her to a fight was the same, resulting in her point-blank refusal. No matter what he did, it all failed against her.

Neji wasn't even really sure why he had kissed her. The notion had come to him in an instant, and not thinking much about it, he had acted upon it. Apparently, that was a rather large miscalculation on his part. He thought, much to his humiliation, that he might have even tried to _deepen_ the kiss, of all things. Damn, he hadn't been supposed to like it! It had been supposed to be a strategic move to silence and hopefully confuse her, nothing more. Tch, yeah, right.

Another thing bothered Neji as well, though. He wasn't sure that she had responded at all either, which aggravated him a bit for some reason. But, then, reality had given him a rather cruel awakening. His stomach still felt rather tender. Moving on…

What else could he do, short of ambushing her? Neji couldn't do that, though; in this situation, it would be cowardly and dishonorable, and his pride would not allow it. Damn pride. Well, maybe more sleep would help. Although, he doubted that sleep would come easily to him tonight, not with the odd feelings that kissing Sakura seemed to rouse in him. Even though they were not…unpleasant feelings, really, now that he thought about it. Quite the opposite, rather. Just very…new, and unfamiliar. Touching his lips gently, Neji headed back to camp.

……………………

After Neji left, Tenten and Hinata burst out laughing. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately, but who could blame them? Neji had it coming to him.

"What are you two laughing at?!" Naruto demanded them, glaring. "Did you see what Neji-teme did to Sakura-chan? How dare he! I never gave him my permission to do anything!"

"Well, he never gave you permission to so much as look at Hinata, and yet you do," said Tenten. "Beside, you'd never give anyone permission to go near her, if you had it your way."

"Are you defending that bastard?! After what he did?!" Naruto did not seem pleased.

"Yeah, Tenten!" Kiba did not seem very happy, either. "He really crossed the line with that one."

"Sorry, Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, but Tenten is right." Hinata giggled some more. "And Neji-niisan's face! It was priceless!"

"And luckily, I have caught each priceless one on this beautiful little thing," Tenten added, showing the remaining boys her camera.

"What!" they yelped in unison.

The remainder of the night was spent in Kiba and Naruto's tent, laughing over the pictures and scheming up wonderful plots of blackmail. The photos (as Tenten got multiple shots) of Neji kissing Sakura was especially popular.

* * *

AN: Well, another chapter come and gone. ((sigh)) I particularly enjoyed writing this one. I have realized that Neji really is quite the little bitch in here. Man, I didn't mean for that to happen. Can Neji ever be redeemed? It would seem doubtful, especially in my future chapters. Those poor Naruto guys just always seem to get the short end of the stuck. I have no idea _why_… (heh heh)

You know, that last part, with the kiss? That was completely last-minute! But, I'm actually really glad I did think of that. It's just beautiful. ((sigh)) And I know you NejiSaku fans love it. Well, not the Sakura-kneeing-him-in-the-stomach part, unless you like seeing the Naruto guys in pain (like I do, insane little sadist that I am), but the kissing part, definitely. Oh, those poor, poor boys. What did they ever do to deserve an authoress like me? Oh yeah. They were the hot, smexy beasts that they are. What a curse. ((sigh))


	7. Lost and Found

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 7

**Word Count:** 1,906

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: Me? I own _nadda_. Well, maybe this fanfiction. And a kick-ass awesome Naruto Leaf hatai-ate (received from my friend for my most recent birthday). But not Naruto. Unfortunately.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Lost and Found**

The next day (or really, later that morning), everyone was in a slight panic. Actually, that was not entirely accurate. They _were_ in a panic. While Neji had made it back before too long, no one had seen hide nor hair of Sakura since she had gone for her little 'walk' the night before, and it was almost time to start moving again.

"Argh!" yelled Naruto. "Where the hell is she?! She's been gone for ages!!"

"You don't think anything happened to her, do you?" asked Hinata in a worried tone.

"I sure hope not," said Kiba.

"Alright, everyone, calm down" said Tenten. "The quickest way to find Sakura will be splitting up. We'll start in the direction she went last night and spread out from there."

"What if she comes back?" asked Hinata.

"I'll wait for her," Neji said suddenly, entering the conversation for the first time. Everyone stared at him. "I-if it worried you so much, Hinata-sama."

"Alright, let's go."

They were off on a Sakura hunt.

……………………

Neji meditated. That always took his mind off things he didn't want to think about. Unfortunately, since Haruno Sakura had entered his life, certain things like "always" or "never" weren't so certain anymore. So, in actuality, he only tried to meditate.

As that wasn't working so well, Neji paced instead. He didn't know why he was so worried. It's not like he overly _cared_ about Sakura or anything, right? Well, not beyond her being his teammate and all. Beside, she could take care of herself. She had proved that enough times already (although, in his own defense, he had been a bit distracted). The klutz, she probably just got lost in the woods. All night. Yes, that was it. She was perfectly fine. So he could stop worrying. Anytime now.

Damn.

He was still worrying. He couldn't seem stop. She had to be fine. He still had to enact his master revenge! Which no longer seemed to be quite so masterful. He'd hardly found any opportunity to use it. Whenever he had tried, she had the annoying habit of turning it around and throwing back in his face (or, as the case may be, in his stomach). As unbelievable as it sounded, and as much as it killed him to admit (not that he would do so, to her or to anyone else), she was just too good for him. Damn that girl. She was so…so…

Neji realized that his train of thought was coming dangerously close to the one he had had earlier. He needed to watch it, or he just might find himself thinking about how remarkable Sakura was…

Oh, damn it all.

……………………

Sakura woke up with the feeling of a breeze on her face and the sound of rustling leaves in her ears. Stirring, she opened her eyes…and looked down at a ten-foot drop.

"Damn it," she muttered. Sakura slowly began to remember what had happened: the argument with Neji, walking off into the surrounding forest, finding the tree… Double damn. She must have fallen asleep after getting on the branch. She was lucky that she hadn't fallen right off.

Contrary to Neji's belief (or what he was trying to convince himself of), Sakura had not gotten lost. In fact, she knew exactly where she was. Well, maybe not _exactly_, but she knew perfectly well how to get back to camp. She just hadn't wanted to. She had wanted some alone time, away from – ahem – certain people, hence her climbing into a tree.

Well, it had made perfect sense the night before at least.

Sakura didn't know what to think about Neji at the moment. One minute they were arguing, and the next, he was kissing her. It was all a jumble. She liked to think, though, that she hadn't responded in any way. Well, besides kneeing him. Sure, she hadn't exactly fought back per se, but it wasn't really her fault. She had been put into a mild state of shock. And Neji was hot, as infuriating as he could be.

'_I had better get back,'_ she thought. _'I have no idea what time it is, and who knows what Naruto will do when he finds out I'm missing.'_

No sooner had she climbed down then she was tackled. Sakura tried to fend off her attacker, but to no avail. A wet tongue managed to lick her face.

"Akamaru, that tickles!" she giggled, finally managing to stand up.

"Sakura!" Someone's arms enveloped her from behind. "You're alright!"

"Kiba-san?" she said in surprise. Once she had recognized Akamaru, Sakura had expected Kiba to be not far behind, but she certainly hadn't expected him to hug her. As if realizing just what he was doing, Kiba abruptly let her go. She turned around, arm on Akamaru, to see Kiba's face turning a shade of red that could easily put a tomato to shame.

"Errr…" he stuttered, not looking at her. "Hey guys!" he shouted suddenly, turning around. "I found her, over here!"

Before she could say anything, Sakura found herself embraced in a big bear hug and was, once again, tackled to the ground. Only one person could give hugs like that.

"Sakura-chan!" came a voice in her ear. "You're alive!"

"Naruto," she gasped. "Can't. Breathe."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," he said, loosening his death grip just enough so that she could breath and righting them both.

"Sakura!"

"Where have you been?!"

Two consecutive thumps and additional squeezing force marked the arrival of Hinata and Tenten.

"Sakura, what happened to you?" Tenten demanded.

"We were all so worried!" Hinata exclaimed.

"We thought you had died or something!" Naruto added.

"Yeah, guys, I love you, too," Sakura wheezed. "But seriously. I. Can't. Breathe."

"Sorry!" they chorused, and quickly let her go. Once Sakura had regained her ability to inhale, all four returned to bombarding her with questions.

"What happened to you?!"

"Why did you stay out all night?!"

"Why didn't you come back?!"

"Do you have any idea what time it is?!"

Sakura held up her hands to stop the flood of questions. Although they were all said at relatively the same time, she seemed to be able to make sense of them nonetheless.

"Nothing happened. I didn't mean to stay out all night. I feel asleep in a tree. No, I don't know what time it is." Sakura paused here to draw a breath. "I'm sorry I worried you guys, I never meant to."

"Hell yeah I was worried!" Naruto butted in. "I thought something had happened to you!"

"He was ready to tear up the whole forest looking for you," said Kiba, grinning.

"Like you weren't worried," Naruto snapped.

"Of course he was," Tenten said as Kiba went slightly red (again). "We _all_ were."

Suddenly Sakura looked around. "Hey, where's Neji-san?"

"He's back at camp," Tenten answered. "Waiting in case you came back before we found you."

"He actually volunteered to," Hinata added. "He said he did it because I was worried, but I think it's because he was and didn't want the rest of us to see."

Everyone stared at her, until Sakura burst out laughing.

"Neji-san?" she scoffed incredulously. "Worried about _me_? After the fight we had last night? More likely he's worried that he won't be able to enact some diabolical master revenge against me if I've gone and gotten myself killed first."

"Or he won't be able to kiss you again," sniggered Tenten.

"Aw, come on, Sakura-chan," said Naruto as he glared daggers at the weapons mistress, with the help of Sakura and Kiba, before he turned back to Sakura. "Why would Neji want to 'enact some diabolical master revenge' against you?" Sakura stopped in her process of drilling a hole into Tenten with her eyes to stare at him (which the others joined in as well), and was amazed all over again at how dense her dear friend could be. And here she was, thinking he had gotten better. But, then again, Hinata had been trying for years (with the help of her friends) to get Naruto's attention, and the idiot was only just realizing it.

"Because I questioned his maleness and kneed him in the stomach," she said bluntly. Sometimes it's the only way to get through to him.

"Yeah, that might do it for Neji," said Kiba. "And, there was that little incident before the mission where she saved Naruto's ass from the Neji-on-a-war-path."

"Wow, you're right," Naruto said.

"Thanks guys, you make me feel sooo much better."

"Your welcome!" they chorused.

"Well then," said Tenten with a grin, "we'd better get back to camp and stop Neji from all that worrying."

……………………

Neji couldn't believe it. It had been one hour, fourteen minutes and twenty-seven, no, twenty-eight seconds since the others had left (not that he was keeping track or anything) and still, all he could think about was that wretched, damnable kunoichi! How she had wormed her way into his thoughts he had no idea, and probably never would. The point was, she had, and it didn't appear that she would be leaving any time soon. Damn her.

Eventually, Neji had given up trying to do anything else, and since just thinking about her was easier for his peace of mind than worrying about her, he planed on doing the former. Unfortunately, having come to this decision, Neji drew a blank. Damn. He realized that, for all his studying, he knew next to nothing about her. Sure, he knew her strengths and her weaknesses (for the most part), but he knew nothing of what made Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura. She was a mystery to him, an enigma. All he knew was that she was smart and beautiful and witty and clever and beautiful and she constantly beat him and made his stomach do back flips whenever she smiled, at him or otherwise (but especially at him) and she was beautiful and tasted like strawberries (not that he had actually been tasting her when he kissed her or anything), and she was beautiful. He felt vaguely as though he were repeating himself.

Neji made a decision then: he would study Sakura, watch her, and _really_ learn more about her, this time for an entirely different reason. A challenge, maybe, but Hyuuga Neji was willing and up to it.

That was when he remembered something rather important: he and Sakura had not parted on the, er, best of terms. She had insulted him (and his hair), he had kissed her, she had kneed him in the stomach, and they had both stalked off into the forest. Now she was missing, probably hurt somewhere, unable to get back. Maybe she had walked off a cliff, or fallen into a river, or was attacked by rabid squirrels, or-

"Neeee-jiiiii, we're baaaaaa-aaaaaack," a sing-song voice interrupted him. It sounded like Tenten.

"And we found Sakuraaaaaa," came Hinata's voice, also in sing-song.

"Not a scratch on her," Naruto said next.

They were back! Wait, great gods, they were back! He couldn't face them like this! He was having an emotional overload! He wasn't used to or prepared for a situation like this! Damn it!

Well, he would just stay in his tent and refuse to talk to anyone, until he regained his normal Hyuuga calm and composure. Yes, that would work.

"Neji," he heard Tenten's voice call again. "Come on, it's time to start moving!"

Damn. So much for that plan.

* * *

A/N: Okay, just wanna say: WHOO-HOO!! OVER 100 REVIEWS!! WOOT-WOOT!! I'd like to thank all my reviewers for supporting me. I love you guys!

Alrighty then: I've gotten a couple of reviews saying that they would like to see Neji win at an argument with Sakura. At the moment, I don't believe I've got one of those in store (mostly because I've seen that in so many fanfics and I'm sort of tired of it). If any of you agree with this and would like to make a suggestion, please feel free. Otherwise, I'm probably just going to stick with what I've already got planned. Thanks! -


	8. Desparate: A Dog's Advice

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 8

**Word Count:** 2,935

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

**Author's Note:** This chapter is dedicated to The warmth of the Afterglow. It is her line, used in a review a couple chapters back, that inspired a little scene later on (you remember that Glow? -). It's not a very big part, but I just loved writing it (in fact, it makes me laugh every time I re-read it). I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. The scene came to me in a sudden ingenious brainwave (hehe), and I just HAD to write it. It was too good not to. You'll all know what I part I mean when you get to it (actually, I just realized that it's at the very end).

Disclaimer: I'd say that I do, but that would get all those nasty mean scary people in suits (known to themselves as "lawyers," but we all know better) down on my head faster than I can say "disclaimer." Or "plagiarism."

* * *

**Chapter 8: Desperate: A Dog's Advice**

Neji was avoiding everyone else as much as he could while jumping from branch to branch. The last thing he needed to do was something embarrassing and uncharacteristic of himself, so he remained as far ahead of the others as possible. His strategy worked quite well; at least, until he suddenly found Sakura next to him.

"Neji-san-" she began.

"What?" he said, a little too abruptly. She frowned at him, and he felt his gut twist. Neji liked it much better when she smiled. Only, when she smiled, his body did all sorts of things that he was certain would normally send him to an early grave. But, he would want her to smile anyway, even if his heart skipped enough beats to kill him or he suddenly forgot how to breathe or his brain spontaneously stopped functioning properly and turned to mush.

"Argh, leave me alone, dammit!" he thought. Or, at least, he thought he thought it. Apparently, though, he actually said it aloud. Either that or Sakura had learned to read thoughts. Damn, that would be bad.

"Well, I'm sorry," she said in a sarcastic and hurt voice. "I didn't realize someone apologizing to you would bother you that much."

"What!" Neji yelped. Oh boy, he was in for it now.

"I was just trying to apologize for insulting you and kneeing you in the stomach, but you obviously don't want to hear it!" And with a little "Hmph," she let herself fall behind him.

Neji wished for a rock to crawl under. Unfortunately, you can't crawl under a rock and keep moving at the same time, so he was stuck.

'_Nice going, Neji,'_ he thought (in his head this time). _'You just managed to piss off the one girl you've hopelessly fallen for. Not only that, but she was going to apologize for what she did. _She_ was going to apologize, even though you really started it. If she didn't hate your guts before, she almost definitely does now. _And_ she thinks that you hate her to boot. Way to go, idiot.'_

Damn, he really needed to find that rock. Either that or a way to turn off his thoughts.

……………………

Sakura was pissed. That jackass! There she was, trying to apologize for gods' sakes, and he tells her to leave him alone. Sakura would bet that he hadn't even been listening to her, either! His eyes had had that far-away sort of look to them. Then again, it was sort of hard to tell, what with them being that uniform white/silver. Still though, he had been the one who started the fight! Why should she be the one to apologize?

Sakura sighed. She knew exactly why she had tried to apologize (emphasis on tried). Being on bad terms with Neji would make the rest of the mission (at _least_) a living hell. And since that hell would freeze over before Neji would be the one to apologize, she figured she should do it.

Neji had made it clear however, that he didn't want to hear it. Apparently, he couldn't even stand being near her. Well, that was just fine with her. She didn't give a damn about Neji or his revenge! She would take any hell he dished out, and throw it right back at him.

……………………

After selecting a new campsite, the members of the team prepared for the night. The girls were building a fire, Naruto was gathering food, Neji had disappeared into his tent once building it with astonishing speed (and refused to talk to anyone) and Kiba was preparing his own tent. It was then that Akamaru seemed to decide that Kiba needed a little talk. Sometimes it was very useful that Kiba spoke dog.

"So, when are you going to tell her?" asked Akamaru casually.

"Tell who what?" responded Kiba.

"Tell Sakura that you want to be her mate."

"What makes you think that I-" He was stopped by a snort from Akamaru. "What?"

"Are you really that much in denial?" Akamaru let out a sigh. "I've seen the way you look at her when you think no one else is looking. I've seen the way you act around her, the way you talk to her. You're my master, and I know you better than anyone else." He gave a little dog-chuckle. "Plus, you reek of human hormones."

"Hey!" yelled Kiba indignantly.

"You really do reek," Akamaru said again. "I don't understand why you're trying to deny it, though. Sakura's an excellent choice. She's a wonderful female, for a human. She gives excellent belly rubs, and she smells good. Tastes good, too, as a matter of fact."

"You've been _tasting_ her?" shouted Kiba, then quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed. "You've been _tasting_ her?" he repeated in a quieter voice.

"You've seen me lick her," said the dog as he let his tongue hang out lazily. "I wouldn't keep doing that if she tasted bad. You should try it some time." Kiba went bright red at that.

"Easy for you to say!" he exclaimed. "You're just a big ol' cute dog! Everyone loves you! It's much more complicated for humans than it is for dogs. I can't go and lick her just because I want to!"

"Oh, so you _do_ want to lick her," said Akamaru, giving off a matter-of-fact, smug air and the impression of raised eyebrows, despite the fact that he had none.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean- Stop trying to mess with my mind you stupid dog!"

"Well, apparently I'm smart enough to out-talk you. _And_ to see that you're, as you humans say, 'head over heels,' whereas you can not seem to accept that one simple fact."

"Shut-up you," Kiba growled, quite angry at being out-witted by a dog, even if he was a dog-nin. "It's not as acceptable for a couple of males to go at it over some female. Especially if it's Sakura. She wouldn't let herself be claimed like some prize. I told you, it's more complicated for us."

"Oh yes, because it's very complicated to tell someone you're interested in them," Akamaru retorted.

"Yes, yes it is! I don't know if she feels the same way, and if she doesn't-"

"Then you 'woo her,' or whatever you call it."

"Well, how do I do that!" he exclaimed in desperation. He must have really been desperate to ask a dog of all things.

"Oh please." Akamaru glanced over to the now-built fire. "Just watch and learn."

Akamaru walked over to where the three kunoichi were sitting. Making sure that Kiba was watching, he plopped himself down and looked up imploringly up at the girls. Who could resist?

"Stupid dog," Kiba muttered as he glowered at said canine. "What would he know?!"

……………………

Akamaru was in his glory. He was lying on his back, and had three sets of hands rubbing him; one pair on his head, one pair on his chest, and one pair on his belly. It was doggy heaven. Every so often, he would check on Kiba, to make sure he could see all of this and learn from it. Meanwhile, above Akamaru's head, the owners of the hands were talking.

"I'm worried about Neji-niisan," said Hinata, looking at the tent which he had yet to emerge from. "He hasn't said anything to anyone since we stopped."

"So?" said Sakura. "Isn't that what he usually does anyway?"

"Well, yes," Hinata replied. "But he generally does _something_."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was moping about something," Tenten said thoughtfully, also looking at the tent.

"Well, he can mope all he wants," declared Sakura. "He can just sit there and rot for all I care."

"Sakura, how could you say that?" Hinata exclaimed in surprise. Sakura didn't usually say things like that. At least, not about most people.

"Yeah, I thought you said you were going to try to apologize to him and leave that argument behind," said Tenten. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Sakura said angrily. "There I was, swallowing my pride and trying to apologize, when all of the sudden, he shouts to leave him alone. I don't think he was even listening to me!"

"That jerk!" exclaimed Tenten.

"My sentiments exactly," said Sakura.

"Um, maybe we should start making dinner," Hinata said, trying to move away from the dangerous subject she had unwittingly introduced.

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Akamaru rolled over and whined in protest as the three stood up to get to work.

"Don't worry Akamaru," said Sakura with a smile and a last scratch of the head. "We can continue after dinner. You want to eat, don't you?" He grumbled a bit, but then licked her hand, causing her to giggle.

"Hey, I'm back!" came a shout, and everyone (excluding Neji, of course) turned to see Naruto walking towards them with several good-sized rabbits slung over his back.

"Excellent timing, Naruto!" Sakura shouted back. "We were just about to get ready to make dinner. Come on, you can help. You too, Kiba-san!"

……………………

Neji was in desperate need of something with which to hit himself into senseless, peaceful oblivion. He had looked for the frying pan, but then realized that Sakura probably already had it. Thinking of Sakura reminded him of her stick that had once caused his head a lot of grief, but that too was somewhere that he could not get it.

The reason for his much greater grief was Sakura herself. She did hate him! He had heard every word she, Hinata, and Tenten had said, and it had not sounded good. All because of his stupid thoughts! They were so distracting, and they came out at the worst possible moments, from his mouth that seemed to decide that it would no longer remain loyal to him. What was he going to do now? How could he make her forgive him? Or where could he go so he would never have to show his face again? (He would not even think the lowly word 'hide.')

Unfortunately, the Hyuuga prodigy was very inexperienced with the sort of problems he was having. When it came to love, apologizing, backing down, or "running away," he had absolutely no idea what to do. Neji supposed he could ask for help, but who, and how? He was also very inexperienced at that. He couldn't ask Kiba or Naruto (definitely not Naruto) and most certainly not Sakura. Hinata? Maybe, but she was a good friend of Sakura's. Could she keep it to herself?

"Dinner's all ready!" came a voice outside.

He couldn't go out there! Argh, what was he going to do?

……………………

Kiba watched as Sakura ate her food with one hand and reach to pet Akamaru with the other. Said dog was sitting next to her with his head resting against her leg and Sakura would smile happily down at him when she wasn't busy with her food or talking with her friends.

Akamaru had returned to his old game of "Throwing-Smug-Looks-At-Kiba-As-He-Snuggled-Closer-To-Sakura," who would only giggle, unaware of the dog's true motives, and pet him more. Damn, Kiba hadn't known he could be so jealous of a dog…

"You like dog's, Sakura?" he asked suddenly, in a bad attempt to distract himself (and possibly her) with the subject he was best at. Too bad it included the thing he was trying to distract himself from.

"Eh?" she said. "Oh, yes, I love them!" She smiled at Akamaru again. Damn that lucky dog.

"Do you want one?"

"Oh, I'd love one!" she exclaimed as her eyes lit up. Then she hesitated. "But…"

"But what?" Kiba asked.

"Well, I, uh." She gave a nervous little laugh. "I honestly have no idea how to take care of them. I don't know what I'd do."

"Oh, is that all?" Kiba let out one of his bark-like laughs. "If you really want one, then I can help you there. You can come over to my place and pick out a puppy."

"Really?" Sakura said as her eyes lit up again. She smiled, just for him; Kiba swore that at that moment his heart stopped.

"U-uh-huh," he stuttered slightly, but nevertheless continued. "And then, I'll go over to your place," Kiba swallowed as he realized that he now would have legitimate excuse to visit Sakura's house almost every day. "to help you train it, and to teach you how to take care of it."

"Oh, thank you Kiba-kun!" Sakura cried as she stood and flung her arms around him in an embrace. "I can't wait to get back now!"

Kiba felt the blood rush to her face and prayed desperately that no one could see it in the dim firelight. Something suddenly registered in him mind, and his face, if possible, became even redder than before.

"Uh, S-Sakura?" he stuttered.

"Yes?" she answered and let go of him, sitting back on her heels. Kiba relieved and disappointed at the same time.

"D-did you j-just call me Kiba-k-kun?" he asked, embarrassed.

"Oh, um, yeah." Now she looked embarrassed. "You don't mind, do you? I won't if you don't want me to…"

"Oh, n-no, it's okay!" Damn, why couldn't he stop stuttering? He sounded like a fool! "You can call me that!"

"Alright, Kiba-kun," she said, smiling again. "Now I-"

She was interrupted by a bark from Akamaru. He had walked up to them, and seemed to have decided that Sakura's attention had been diverted from him for long enough.

"I'm going to help, too!" he declared. Although to anyone but Kiba it sounded like nothing more than a mess of barks, Sakura seemed to understand just fine.

"Does that mean you'll be helping me, too, Akamaru?" she asked the interfering little furball with a grin as she scratched him on the head again. He responded instantly to her touch, putting a paw on her knee and rubbing against her hand. Sakura laughed and walked back to her former place at the fire.

Kiba thought for a moment that he saw Akamaru throw him another one of his smug looks from his place sprawled over Sakura. No, he wasn't imagining things, the dog had done it again. Damn him.

……………………

Neji was feeling nervous, more nervous than he had ever been. It appeared that he had a rival for Sakura's affections: the Inuzuka. He had used his Byakugan when he heard them talking, and had read stupid mutt like a book. It was obvious that Inuzuka liked the rose-haired medic-nin, maybe as much as Neji himself. This worried Neji quite a bit.

Under normal conditions, Neji would not have been worried at all; he _was_ Hyuuga Neji. Why should he worry? However, these weren't normal conditions: this was Sakura. Even more disturbing than the fact that he had a rival was that, at the moment, that rival was far in the lead. Not only was Inuzuka's name now combined with –kun, but had also won a hug, _and_ would be spending a lot of time with Sakura after the mission. Neji on the other hand, was looked upon with utter disgust, and there seemed to be little hope of redemption. He really needed help.

"Neji?" a voice sounded outside his tent.

"Hn," was his non-descript reply.

"Neji, it's Tenten. You didn't come out to eat, so I brought you some food. Is everything alright?"

Tenten, of course! She would know what to do!

"Tenten, I need to talk to you."

……………………

Tenten tried to keep a straight face as she left Neji's tent. No, she would not do that to him. Not only would that mean instantaneous death at the hands of Neji (no matter how good friends they were), but Tenten did not want to make him feel worse than he already was. He deserved some slack. After all, it was his first time falling for a girl; and man-oh-man, had he ever fallen hard. Poor guy.

Not only that, but the object of his affections thought he was a complete moronic jackass. And, it was because he liked her that she thought this. Just as he had begun to like her, she had begun to hate him. Oh, the cruel, cruel irony.

To top it all off, Neji had a rival. Of course, Tenten had already figured as much; she didn't need the Byakugan to recognize the signs. Well, Sakura had unwittingly cast her spell, and Neji and Kiba had, just as unwittingly, fallen under it. She couldn't even imagine what would happen when Naruto found out. There were some rocky roads ahead.

What amazed and amused her the most, though, was the obliviousness of Sakura. She seemed completely unaware of the effect she had upon the opposite sex. Either that, or Sakura pointedly ignored it. One way or the other, Tenten sure had her work cut out for her.

'_Tsunade-sama couldn't have picked some easier puppets to play with…'_

……………………

Meanwhile, when she should have been doing her paperwork, Tsunade was drinking sake (the drink of the gods in her, and therefore everyone else's, opinion) imagining wonderfully evil scenarios involving Sakura and those poor, unsuspecting boys.

"Dance, puppets, dance!" she cackled somewhat drunkenly, grinning in a way that would make anyone who didn't know her (and many of those who did) question her sanity.

"Tsunade-sama, is everything alright?" Shizune opened the door and poked her head in.

"Oh, er, yes, of course!" Tsunade said hastily and a little too loudly. "Everything is perfectly dandy!" She heard an exasperated sigh.

"Tsunade-sama, did you smuggle in sake _again_?"

Damn, she'd been caught.

"Uh, no."

* * *

A/N: Hehe, a little KibaSaku goodness in there (and more to come). I'm so proud of myself! I've been feeling like Kiba hasn't been getting enough attention lately. Leave it to Neji-kun to steal the show.


	9. Failed Apologies and New Pets

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 9

**Word Count:** 1,335

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba**  
**

Disclaimer: Okay, you know what! I own Naruto! There, I said it! Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha, ah-ha- /suddenly screams/ Get away from me! NO! Stay away! I didn't mean it! Really, I didn- no, not the lawsuit, not the lawsuit! …Yeah, I gotta go now. SOME people /glares pointedly at nasty mean scary people in suits/ can't take a joke. Don't worry, I'll be back soon. They can't keep me for long. Till then, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Failed Apologies and New Pets**

The next morning was a flurry of activities: Naruto was avidly searching for some misplaced items (who knows what), Kiba was gathering his belongings with Akamaru, Hinata was trying to help Naruto find whatever it was that he was looking for, Tenten was thinking of ways to hook up Sakura, Sakura herself was avoiding contact with Neji and Neji was avoiding contact with any life forms whatsoever (a difficult feat in a small campsite). Just an average morning.

Tenten had told Neji that the best and quickest way to win forgiveness from Sakura was apologizing. While it wouldn't win her heart, it was a good start. Neji sighed. If only he knew how one went about apologizing. Of course, he knew what to say (Tenten had explained it to him), but it was actually saying it that could be a problem. He hoped it would be worth it.

The other problem was that Sakura was avoiding him. Sure, at the moment he was avoiding her as well (it worked out quite nicely), but when he was actually prepared to do that thing that he never, ever did, it would be made much more difficult if she wouldn't even listen. Tenten had promised to think of something, but so far he didn't know if she had. Still, they had the entire day of traveling to work on it. The only problem was that they should be reaching their destination in a few hours. If all ran smoothly, they could finish up that day and could start heading back.

Of course, if Tenten didn't think of something, he could always find that rock.

……………………

As Neji had predicted, they reached the alleged site of the disturbances within a few hours. They had scouted the entire area, each in their own section, and had all returned to the day's chosen camp site. Well, all except Naruto. They were still waiting for him to show up.

Neji himself had come up with about as much as they had found: nada, zilch, and a whole whopping lot of nothing. Luckily, Tenten had thought of something, but that gave him mixed feelings: exuberant that they now had a plan, and angry that she was the one who thought of it (it hurt his already sorely mangled pride). Neji recalled what Tenten had said earlier.

"Don't worry Neji," she had told him. "All you need to do is say two little words. I'll take care of the rest."

Tch, yeah. Easy for her to say.

……………………

"Oh Sakura-chaaaan," came a voice to Sakura's ears. She sighed.

"Okay Tenten, what do you want?" she asked.

What makes you think I want something?" Tenten said in a mock-offended tone.

"Because you said my name in a sing-song voice and with '-chan' attached to the end. What do you want?"

"Oh fine. I know when I'm found out," she said. "All I want is am itty-bitty favor."

"I knew it!"

"Come on, pleeeeeease?" Tenten begged.

"Alright, alright. What's the favor?" Sakura conceded.

"Would you go talk to Neji please?" There was a beat of silence. Tenten silently counted. _'Three, two, one…'_

"No way in hell!" Right on cue.

"Aww, come on Sakura-chan, you have to!" Tenten whined at her friend.

"Give me one good reason why I should!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Alright," said Tenten with a triumphant grin. "Because you already said you would, and you can't go back on your word."

Sakura contemplated this for a moment, trying to find some sort of obscure loophole. "Damn." There was none to be found. That hadn't worked out. "How could you do this to me?" she demanded her so-called friend.

"Oh, just go." Tenten turned Sakura in the right direction and gave her a little push.

"I'll get you for this Tenten," Sakura said with a glare that would have made any Hyuuga proud. Tenten only snorted. She had practically grown up with Neji, and therefore was immune to such glares. "You just wait."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, Sakura-_chan_, Tenten said. "Now, get a move on."

……………………

With the help of his Byakugan, Neji watched as Tenten 'persuaded' Sakura. _'Hey, why can't I ever do that?'_ he wondered vaguely, but snapped to attention as he saw the unknowing keeper of his heart approach, grumbling quietly to herself. He hadn't felt this nervous since, well, since the previous evening when he realized he wasn't the only one in their group housing affections for Sakura. Just as she reached the entrance of his tent, the familiar voice of a certain loud-mouthed, hyper-active, annoying blond could be heard.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chaaaan! I need you!"

Neji could have killed Naruto just then.

……………………

Sakura could have hugged Naruto just then.

"What is it, Naruto?" she asked him, moving away from Neji's tent with little remorse. She thought for a moment she heard something suspiciously like swearing from said tent, but dismissed it as her imagination.

"Look here," he said, revealing the thing he had been holding close to his chest. Kiba, Hinata, and Tenten also gathered around. "I found this little guy on my way back, and I think it's hurt. It's definitely unconscious, anyway. Can you help it?"

"Here, give it to me." Sakura gently lifted the dark brown squirrel from Naruto's arms. She moved to the fire and set it down. The others followed close behind.

"Will it be alright?"

"No worries." Sakura smiled. "It'll be fine, I'm sure. Now, I'm going to need everyone's help." They snapped to attention. "Tenten, grab a cloth or towels or something. Hinata, get my medical kit. Naruto, I'll need some fresh water. Kiba, see if you can't find something for it to eat. Akamaru, you can help Kiba." They all quickly went to their respective jobs.

Sakura sighed. She didn't expect to get to sleep anytime soon.

……………………

Sakura was awakened by something tickling her nose. She opened her eyes to find a furry blob in front of her face. Apparently the squirrel, which she had brought into her tent when she went to sleep, was now awake and busy investigating her face. Upon seeing her stir however, the bushy-tailed critter in front of her quickly moved away, crouching and quivering.

"There there little one," she whispered comfortingly. "No one's going to hurt you." She slowly reached her hand out, until it came close enough for her to pet the little creature. It flinched but otherwise didn't move. Still moving slowly, she picked up the squirrel, all the while speaking to it in a calm, soothing voice.

"It's alright," she told it as she gently stroked the furry back. She felt it relax until in began its investigations again. She giggled slightly; the sharp little claws and whiskery nose tickled. Remembering the food found by Kiba that she had also brought with her, Sakura set the creature down and reached behind her. Settling herself back down so that the squirrel lay near her stomach, Sakura offered it a nut. It accepted and happily crunched away. She smiled, watching it. After a few more nuts, the creature also settled down, curling up next to her with its tail over its nose. This was the last thing she saw as sleep enveloped her once more.

……………………

As Sakura soon discovered, the squirrel she had healed seemed to have developed a close attachment to her. It rarely left her side, or rather, her shoulder. It would sit there the entire day, its tail wrapped around her neck like a furry boa. If anyone besides herself came too close or tried to pet it, it would hide in Sakura's just-longer-than-shoulder-length hair.

"What are you going to call it?" asked Tenten, peering at the timid creature.

"Hmmm," Sakura thought aloud. "How about…" She paused, thinking. "Cocoa?"

"Cocoa?" said Naruto, deciding to join in on the conversation. "Why Cocoa?"

"Cocoa, as in cocoa beans," Sakura replied, "which are used to make chocolate, the greatest thing ever made by man. Plus, it's dark brown, like cocoa."

"Ohhhhhhh," said Naruto in understanding.

* * *

A/N: Hm, definitely not much going on in that chapter. How disappointing. Well, except for the new PET!! I've just been _dying_ to have one. Squirrels are so adorable! - And now, time for a completely random spazing: EEK! PET! ((glomps said unfortunate critter)) Though, now that I think about it, this pet doesn't serve a very big purpose. It's more of a 'on a whim' type thing. Buuuut, it does have it's own little gimmick, and who knows? Maybe I will come up with some big role for it. Who knows?


	10. Drunk? Who, Me?

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 10

**Word Count:** 2,873

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba  
**  
****Author's Note:** Heehee, lotsa fun in this chapter. Those boys had better watch out. X3 (Beware of the use of alcohol in this chapter, and the beautiful chaos that ensues. You have been **WARNED**.)

Disclaimer: If you look really hard, you'll see that Masashi Kishimoto actually spells my name. Not that any of you know what my real name is. But seriously: Me. No. Own.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Drunk? Who, Me?**

Naruto was bored. The mission was over and nothing exciting was happening, nor did he have anything to do. Man oh man, he was bored, and a bored Naruto is prone to doing stupid things just for the sake of avoiding this. So, what brilliant idea did he come up with?

"Hey Kiba!" yelled a certain bored blond. "I saw a town not too far from here while I was out scouting. You wanna see if they have a bar?"

"Sure, why not?" Kiba agreed. "Not like much is happening around here-"

"Just where do you two think you're going?" demanded a voice from behind them. Naruto winced.

"Oh, h-hey Sakura-chan," Naruto said sheepishly. "We were just about to go to that bar I saw and, you know, get a few, um, drinks…" He gulped, looking at the girl in front of him who, with her hands on her hips, somehow managed to look very imposing (for all she was at least a head shorter than either of them and had a squirrel on her shoulder). He wished he could do that…

"Define 'a few,'" she said, switching her position so that her arms were now crossed in front of her. Oh hell, she could be damn scary when she wanted to. Naruto felt Kiba shift uncomfortably next to him.

"Oh, you know, just a couple." Naruto gave a nervous little chuckle. Then he decided to use his secret weapon: puppy-dog eyes that would have put Akamaru to shame. "Pretty please?" Ah-ha-ha, all fall before the mighty puppy-dog eyes!

"No."

Damn. He had forgotten that Sakura had developed an inconvenient resistance to his tricks. She continued. "If you get drunk, it'll be up to me and the rest of us to make sure you don't do any damage, to yourself or otherwise."

"Aw, come on Sakura." Kiba tried his hand at convincing her. "We won't stay too long. We'll be back by sunrise. Besides, the mission is done and we could use a night out."

"Yeah, don't be a party-pooper," Naruto added. He watched gleefully as Sakura relented under the combined might of two puppy-dog faces (one of which was from a dog-nin himself. Oh, the shamelessness of it all).

"Alright, alright, you win," she said with a sigh, holding up her hands in defeat. "But," she glared at them to emphasize her point, "if you guys haven't returned by then, I will personally drag your sorry butts back here, and you won't like that. Understood?" They nodded eagerly. "Alright, get out of here then. But leave Akamaru. I don't think a bar would be very good for dogs."

With a laugh and a whoop, the two ninja hightailed it away. As Naruto passed Neji's tent however, something made him stop. It could have been something to do with the strange sounds he heard, almost as if Neji were…_talking_ to himself. Although he couldn't hear much, he was able to make out a couple of phrases that sounded something like "baka," "must find," "rock," and "how the hell are you going to get out of this one." Naruto came to one conclusion: Neji needed help. Help that came in small bottles and could not be taken in excess amounts without serious side affects. Ahh, the joys of alcohol.

"Naruto, what's the hold up?" asked Kiba, who had finally realized he was short one highly energetic ninja.

"Wait a minute. Hey Neji!" Naruto called. The mutterings abruptly ceased.

"What do you want?"

"Well, me and Kiba were going into town," said Naruto, "and I was wondering if you'd like to join us for a couple of drinks."

"No."

"Well, that was unexpected," muttered Kiba sarcastically.

"Why not?" demanded Naruto. Neji stuck his head out the tent flap, clearly annoyed.

"Me? Go with you? To drown myself in a drink that will make me forget who I am and why I'm…so…miserable…" If Neji trailed off here and gained a look of thoughtfulness and realization, Naruto completely missed it. He continued his argument.

"Aw, come on Neji! You need to get out more! Live a little! Get-"

"Alright, I'll go."

"-drunk! Have fun-" Naruto halted, confused. "Did you just say yes?"

"Yes."

"Bu-bu-but why?" he demanded, shocked. Neji sighed in exasperation and rubbed his temples.

"One, because no matter what I say you'll just keep bugging me, and I really don't feel like arguing right now-"

"That's a first," Sakura butted in. Neji let out another sigh, this one a bit more depressed.

"-and two, I need to drown myself in a drink that will make me forget who I am and why I'm so miserable."

"Oh. Well," said Naruto with a grin, "I know just where to take you! Come on, Kiba!" He slung an arm over each of them. "We're going into town!" Both Naruto and Kiba let out another whoop.

As they walked away, Neji growled, "Get your arm off me baka."

……………………

"So, now that the boys are gone…what should we do?" Hinata posed a good question. Sakura and Tenten considered it for a moment.

"Wellll," Tenten dragged out. "The boys aren't here, so why not talk about them?" _'Ooh, now here's an opportunity,'_ she thought.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Sakura!" Tenten exclaimed. "Don't tell me none of those fine specimens of the male gender in our village have caught your eye?"

"Me? What about Hinata? Why don't you pester her about it?"

"Ohh, we already know who she likes." Tenten waved her hand dismissively. Hinata turned red. "Not to be mean or anything, Hinata, but that's old news. What I want to kno-"

"Don't worry Hinata!" exclaimed Sakura. "We'll get threw that thick head of his sooner or later! …Probably later, but never fear!" Tenten cleared her throat. "Oh, sorry Tenten. Please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying: what I want to know is who _you_ are interested in Sakura."

"Well what about you?" Sakura retorted. "Don't tell me there's no one you want to be with." Tenten followed Hinata's suit and turned red. "Oh come on. How 'bout this, then? I'll tell if you will."

Tenten grinned at this. Oh, too beautiful. "Alright, alright. I, well, I've sort of been thinking about…Lee-kun a lot lately." Tenten's face went a few shades darker.

"Really?" asked Hinata and Sakura in surprise.

"Really." answered Tenten. "Okay Sakura. I've said my bit, now it's your turn." Sakura's face was suddenly lit with a sly smile.

"I don't like anybody," she sniggered. _'Oh, she _didn't_…'_

"What?" Tenten exclaimed. "Hey, you tricked me!"

"That's right! Payback for trying to get me to talk with Neji-san, Tenten-_chan_."

"Which you didn't," glowered the weapons mistress. "Speaking of Neji, are you ever gonna get over that?"

"Hmph. As if."

"Aw come on Sakura," piped up Hinata. "You should give him a chance."

"Yeah," argued Tenten. "He can be a stuck-up, egotistical, uptight stick-in-the-mud sometimes, but he's not a bad person." Wait, that didn't come out quite right…

"Mm-hm," snorted Sakura, and then continued. "And Jaraiya's not a pervert." Tenten flinched a bit at that. Ouch. Harsh. "I've got my pride, and he can just go to hell."

"Well, he's got his pride too, you know," Tenten tried to reason with her. "I just hope you'll fully appreciate that." Sakura just snorted again.

"Whatever."

"Well then, what about…Kiba?" The dark haired girl tried to sound as casual as possible.

"What about him?"

"Do you like him?"

"Well, I suppose he's nice enough." Sakura hesitated. "Look, I just don't want to be with anyone right now. Guys can be more trouble than they're worth. Ever since-" She stopped.

"Fine, fine, fine," grumbled Tenten. So much for that idea. "We'll just make plans for Hinata and Naruto, then."

"Don't forget about you and Lee-san."

……………………

Sakura was pissed. (Again.) There was the sun, rising stunningly in the east, but Sakura was far from appreciating it. The look on her face promised pain for whoever was the cause of her intense – ahem – aggravation.

"Where the hell are they?!" she fumed, pacing. Actually, it was more like stalking. "They said they'd be back by sunrise! Well, there's the sun, but I don't see those idiots!"

"Calm down Sakura," advised Hinata, ever the voice of reason. "They're guys. They probably lost track of time."

"Or they're drunk," added Tenten.

"Most likely!" Tenten was not really helping Sakura's mood.

"Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun? Maybe. But Neji-niisan? Drunk?" Hinata raised a good point.

"Yeah, Neji's a complete stiff," said Tenten. "Don't worry, he'll make sure they stick to their word."

"Alright," Sakura consented. "But if they're not back here in twenty minutes, we're going to bail out their sorry hides.

……………………

At the bar, Neji watched in glassy-eyed fascination as Naruto and Kiba tried simultaneously to break-dance on the same table, with interesting results. Namely, the pair of them falling on their heads. Neji giggled. Yes, Neji giggled. What? They were funny.

The – ahem – slightly drunk Hyuuga looked down at his full glass. Hmmm, to drink or not to dri- oh well, there goes number seven. Or was it nine? …Whatever. He held up his cup for another round.

……………………

"Their sorry asses are SO cooked!" yelled Sakura. She grabbed hold of Hinata and Tenten and began dragging them in the direction of the town, much to their protests. She suddenly paused, yelling back over her shoulder, "Akamaru, you watch the camp, okay?" Hearing his sounds of agreement, she quickly resumed her dragging.

Oh, someone's gonna feel pain today, do da, do da, yes, there is gonna be hell to pay, oh, a do da day…

……………………

"Ergh, where the hell are they?" screamed Sakura in exasperation. The three girls had already checked in five bars and so far, nothing. Honestly, how many bars did one town need?

"Look, here's another one," said Tenten. They entered and it was soon apparent that they would get nowhere together. There were simply too many people.

"Okay guys, let's split up!" Tenten said, taking charge. "If you find one of them, go wait by the door until the rest of us get there. Then we'll figure out what to do from there."

……………………

Sakura found Neji not long after entering. Finally, some sanity. She would put off her grudge until they were all out of there. Ho could probably help her round up the other two knuckleheads.

"Neji-san, there you are! Do you know where-" She froze mid-sentence as the world slowly crumbled around her. Hyuuga Neji, genius prodigy of his clan, man who could sink the Titanic, Mr. I've-got-an-icicle-shoved-very-hard-up-my-ass, was drunk. Dead drunk. She only had to come within a few feet of him to smell the alcohol radiating off him in waves. It seemed to take Neji a few moments to recognize her.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" he slurred. "You're here! Come on, have a drink!" Yes, the universe was definitely slipping into insanity. Well, no time to ponder how many thing were wrong with what Neji had said. She had just spotted Hinata with an unmistakable orange-clad figure, and – uh oh – it looked like she was going to need some assistance. Naruto was getting far too close to have just friendly intentions in mind. More like _very_ friendly intentions. Better go break that up. Who knows what would happen.

"Uh, no thanks Neji-san," she said. "Look, I've got to go-"

"Aw, so soon?" he protested. Sakura paused. _'How many drinks has he _had?_'_

"I'll be back soon, just **don't move**." She quickly headed off to Hinata's rescue. It involved Naruto's face becoming suddenly and unfortunately (for him) well acquainted with the floor.

"Are you okay Hinata?" she asked her friend, shaking her hand. "Damn his head is hard."

"I th-think you h-hit h-him a lit-ttle t-too hard, S-sakura," she stuttered. She was blushing furiously.

"Was he out of his mind? Or just insanely drunk?" Sakura exclaimed. "Hitting on you in plain sight of Neji-san? Even if Neji-san is drunk. _Especially_ if he's drunk…

"Neji-niisan is _drunk_?! Naruto-kun is one thing, but Neji-niisan…"

"Yes, it boggles the mind," Sakura deadpanned. "Come on." She slung Naruto over her back. "We'd better get back to him before he goes and does something stupid in a fit of drunkenness.

Making their way back to Neji, Sakura saw that Tenten had also found the alarmingly intoxicated Hyuuga. She looked a bit uncomfortable, probably owing to the fact that he was trying to force a glass of something, alcoholic most likely, into her hand.

"Oh, Tenten, you're here. Excellent," said Sakura. "Do you two think you can take these guys back?"

"Yeah, no problem," said Tenten.

"But I don't wanna go home!" whined Neji.

…

…

…

Some things were too wrong for words. Sakura quickly put him out of his misery.

"Here you go." She handed Neji's limp body to Hinata. "I don't think they'll be waking up any time soon, but if they do, I should have a frying pan in my bag at camp. I'm sure that'll do nicely."

"And what are you going to do Sakura? asked Hinata.

"I'm going to round up our final idiot."

……………………

Unlike Neji and Naruto, it took Sakura a while to find Kiba. By that time, she was in no mood for any more crap. Stupid drunk men. It was enough to make her wish Naruto was there in all his drunken and easily angered glory. He would make sure those perverts kept away from her. _'Okay Sakura, remember the anger management training: in, out, in, out- aha!'_ She had spotted Kiba.

Said Inuzuka was currently chatting it up with what appeared to be several equally drunk men. As soon as he saw her, he jumped up, a big goofy grin on his face, and pulled her to where his newly acquainted friends sat.

"This is the girl I was talking about," he said, is speech somewhat slurred. "This is Sakura-chan."

There was a chorus of "Oh, she's a nice catch!", "Good one!", "Yeah, total babe!", "I see what you meant!", and "Ooh, she's a real keeper!" from the men, as well as several grunts of approval and a couple of appreciative whistles. Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out…

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Kiba grinned, scratching the back of his head.

"Come on, Kiba-kun," she said through gritted teeth. "It's time to go."

"Alright, alright, if you say so," he grumbled. "See you guys!" He waved as Sakura pulled him towards the door. The men waved back before returning to their drinks.

……………………

Once outside the bar, Sakura looked Kiba up and down. This wasn't going to be easy. "You think you can walk back to camp?" she asked.

"Yup, I'm fine!" Kiba was grinning madly as he stepped forward…and nearly fell flat on his face. Only Sakura's quick reflexes kept him from kissing the ground. He tried again, much to the same effect. Sakura sighed. Gaa. This was going to take a while.

"Come here," she said.

"What?"

"I'm going to carry you." She bent down a little so he could climb on her back. "As you obviously won't make it anywhere without serious personal injury."

"Oh. Okay!" He had that mad grin on his face again. It almost made her suspicious…

Once they got going, it actually wasn't so bad. Kiba remained quiet for the most part, except for humming some tuneless little song (slightly off-key) in her ear. But it was okay; she could deal with that. After all, he was drunk to high-heaven.

"You wanna know something?" he asked abruptly.

"What?" Why not humor the poor guy? He was going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.

"You smell good." She heard some sniffing noises. "Like strawberries and cocoa." Then, he rested his head against the back of her neck, his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders.

Sakura was slightly surprised at Kiba's comment, but again, he was drunk. Most likely he didn't even know what he was saying.

"Um, thanks Kiba-kun," she said. "That was very…nice of you. I think." Sakura felt Kiba shift on her back, and then a tugging on her hair. It was okay, she told herself again; she could deal with that, too. He _was_ drunk. It probably made sense in his twisted, intoxicated mind. Just remember: in, out, in, out…

At least, this was what Sakura thought until she felt something hot, wet, and _pointy_ connect with her neck. When that happened, she froze completely in shock. Then she heard chuckle drunkenly as he whispered in her ear.

"He was right, you do taste good."

No. Oh _hell_ no. He was **not** tasting her! Why that- She dropped him.

Unfortunately, this did not have quite the desired effect. Rather, it put her in what was possibly a worse position than before. Now, instead of resting against her back with his arms draped around her neck, he was standing on the ground with his arms wrapped just under her chest. Damn, that didn't go as planned. Okay, time for Plan B. It went something like this: elbow, meet Kiba's gut. Gut, meet Sakura's elbow. Then, fist, meet Kiba's head. Head, meet blissful unconsciousness.

Plan B worked a bit better.

* * *

A/N: You know, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback for Cocoa. I'm so glad. However, I cannot honestly take all the credit. I probably wouldn't have even thought about it if Nut2 hadn't had incredible little Pinky in her _Unfortunate Circumstances_ and _Slightly More Fortunate Circumstances_. So, if you want to see more awesome-amazing squirrel-ness and a wonderful story besides, go check it out. (No, I am not above shamelessly advertising. Obviously.)


	11. The Day Hell Froze Over

**Author:** aFigureOfSpeech

**Title:** Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 11

**Word Count:** 2,652

**Pairing:** NejixSakuraxKiba

**Rating:** T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

**Summary: **When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba  
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****Author's Note:** Hello again! I'd like you all to say hi to my brand-new-and-fabulous beta, Natsuhiboshi -M5P-. She has so kindly agreed to be my beta, as my previous one is no longer able to do so. (I am going to miss her, though.) But now, onto the chapter!

PS – If you see any mistakes, it's 'cause I was trying really hard to get this out before I left, and I haven't had much time in the week or so I've had it.

Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish I did. But no, I don't own Naruto. Now excuse me as I go angst in a corner over it.

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**Chapter 11: The Day Hell Froze Over**

Some very loud moans woke Sakura from her sleep. She grinned rather viciously. It appeared that the boys were up and, from the sound of it, really feeling the effects of all that alcohol they had consumed the night before. The lumps received from her fists probably weren't helping much either.

Sakura had reached camp with an unconscious Kiba on her back to find the other boys in their respective tents and her female companions (the retainers of her sanity) equally out cold in their own. After unceremoniously throwing dog-boy in with Naruto, she settled down for the few hours of sleep she had left.

Well, she had better go see exactly how they were faring. Very poorly, from the sound of it. Plastering on her best overly-cheerful, I-am-soooo-enjoying-your-pain-right-now smile (she had picked that one up from Tsunade as well), Sakura went out to greet her new patients.

……………………

Neji awoke to possibly the worst headache of his relatively short life. With a low moan, he tried to crawl further into his sleeping bag and block out the small amount of light that had stealthily sneaked its way into his tent. It was in cases like these that having all-penetrating eyes could be most troublesome. Speaking of troublesome, the person who seemed hell-bent on complicating his life (whether intentionally or not) decided that she would at that precise moment lift the flap of his tent, increasing the amount of light, his headache, and his wish for a quick and merciful death. Neji groaned.

"Come on, sleepy-head," chirruped Sakura. "It's time to get up!" Honestly, how could she be so…so…disgustingly _chipper_? Then again, he supposed she hadn't been the one consuming excessive amounts of alcohol the previous night. Oh, joy.

"Leave me alone," he grumbled, his face appearing somewhat cautiously from the covers. "My head hurts too much to stand your ghastly cheerfulness." Blinking blearily at her, Neji saw that Sakura's smile matched her voice. He immediately burrowed back into his covers. Oh gods, it was another one of the Hokage's trademark smiles. Quick and merciful would be too good to ask for.

"I said get a move on, Neji-san," she demanded. "I can't very well get rid of your headache if you're hiding in there." Or maybe he was wrong. But could she be trusted? He didn't ponder it long. Neji was outside as fast as his headache (and dignity) would allow.

"I thought that might motivate you," she chuckled. Sakura led him to where Naruto and Kiba sat, clutching there heads and groaning. It looked as though they were having as bad a time as him. This cheered him slightly (especially at the sight of Kiba).

"Alright Neji-san, sit. You're up first. I'm gonna need you to take off your hatai-ate."

Neji tensed. He supposed he should have expected this, but a headache was hard to think through clearly. What could he do? He certainly didn't want to show his forehead (or more specifically what was on his forehead) to Sakura of all people.

"No."

"Come on, Neji-san!" she protested. "I can't help you with that on. I need to be able to touch your forehead!"

Neji sighed. He closed his eyes to think but found it nearly impossible through the pounding of his head. With an extra-painful throb he dismissed any ideas of waiting it out. His hands clenched, Neji opened his eyes again and slowly removed his headband.

Sakura's eyes widened as his curse mark was revealed, as he knew she would. She gazed quizzically at it, seeming unable to figure out why he would have such a thing on his head. He could practically see the gears turning in her mind, piecing together the image before her and his own obvious reluctance to show it. Neji waited for her to say something.

And waited.

She didn't, to his surprise. Except for the slightly shocked "Oh," Sakura said nothing. She simply gave him a quick look that he chose not to interpret and put her hands to his forehead.

Instantly he felt sweet, sweet relief. Neji sighed again, unconsciously relaxing into her cool, massaging touch. A few moments passed, and he watched her lazily as she concentrated on her task, her eyes almost closed, her mouth in slight frown that looked all too easy to kis-

Neji almost reeled back as he realized just what thoughts were running through his head. He checked to see if the girl in front of him had noticed his sudden (if slight) movement. Nope, she was still oblivious; he silently thanked any gods who might be listening.

Abruptly, Sakura's eyes snapped open; again, Neji nearly reeled back in shock. "Done!" she cried, smiling directly at him. Neji had a moment of uncomfortableness as he fought to remember how to breathe. Oh yes, that's right: in, out, in, out…Damn his stupid hormones. But she had smiled at him! She had really smiled at him! Neji could have jumped for joy. Obviously though, he restrained himself.

Barely.

After she relieved the other two of their headaches, Neji thought it would be as good a time as any to try apologizing. Sakura appeared to have other ideas in mind however: a lecture, for instance.

"Would any of you happen to remember what exactly happened last night?" There was a silent shake of the heads. "Only to be expected, I suppose. I would tell you guys myself, but then, if you didn't kill yourselves from embarrassment, one of the other two would, no doubt, do the job for you, and that would ruin my fun now wouldn't it? I just hope I'm there when you guys do recall." She accented her statement with a smile that would have made any lesser men quake with fear. "Have fun now!" Sakura practically skipped away.

Gulping rather hard (but discreetly), Neji hurried to follow.

"Sakura-san, I wish to speak with you for a moment," he said as monotonously as he could manage under the circumstances (which was pretty impressive as he currently wished just to curl up and die on the inside).

"Yes, Neji-san?" He took that as a good sign; she hadn't told him to go shove off yet.

"I, um, I wanted, wanted to, um, to say, uh…" Neji stuttered, and silently cursed his traitorous tongue. Glancing up at her, Neji saw that Sakura appeared rather confused. Unfortunately for him, his mind seemed to decide that this was the perfect time to notice just how cute she looked when she was confused; the way her lips puckered up slightly, the way her brow furrowed just a bit, the way-

"Just spit it out, Neji-san!" he heard abruptly. Shaking his head faintly to clear it and taking a deep breath, Neji did just that.

"I'm, I'm sorry." There, he said it! Gods, he hadn't realized just how difficult that could be. It wasn't very often that he ever needed to do that. Looking at Sakura however, he saw that she appeared to have moved from confusion to shock. Not entirely surprising really. He just hoped he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

"Er, Sakura-san?"

……………………

Sakura had, in fact, gone into a slight state of shock. _Hyuuga Neji_ had just apologized! To her! Far away, she thought she heard a slight crackling noise. Oh. That must be Hell freezing over.

"Sakura-san, are you all right? Did you hear me?" Neji's voice snapped her out of her daze, and she saw that he had been waving a hand in front of her face.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she assured him quickly. "And, um, apology accepted." Hmm. So Tenten had been right about him after all…

"Alright then," said Neji. "I just wanted to tell you that." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura exclaimed. Neji paused and gazed back at her. She looked at him a bit sheepishly. "Um, Neji-san, I apologize as well." He just stared at her, apparently uncomprehending. "I mean, I shouldn't have been so rude to you before. I should have listened to what you had to say."

"Oh," he replied. "Well then, I accept your apology as well."

Suddenly, Sakura thought of something else. "Oh, and Neji-san? I don't mean to pry or anything, but that thing on your forehead. What is it?"

He turned fully to face her, running a hand through his hair and appeared to be thinking about telling her or not. Just as she was about to apologize for intruding, he said, "You know how my clan is split into two households, the Main and Branch, correct?" She nodded. "Well, the 'thing' on my forehead is a…curse mark. Like myself, all members of the Branch family receive it at a young age."

Neji paused again, looking at her intently. She moved closer to him, silently asking him to continue. He dropped her gaze and instead stared off into the distance as he carried on. "This curse mark is what allows the Main family to have such dominance over those of the Branch. When activated by means of a hand sign, it causes intense, unbearable pain."

Sakura gave a slight gasp and looked at him incredulously. Unthinking, she reached out a hand and rested it on his arm. When she did, Neji abruptly looked toward her, seemingly taken aback by the sudden contact. However, he did not push her away.

"How horrible! Why would anyone do that?"

"The Branch family was created to protect the Main family and the secret of its bloodline. This mark allows them to make sure that is always what happens," he answered quietly.

"Does it ever come off?" Again, Neji looked away before responding.

"Only in death," he told her, almost inaudibly. "It seals the Byakugan with it, ensuring that the secret of our clan is kept."

Sakura was quiet for a time. When she opened her mouth to say something though, Neji spoke first.

"I did not tell you to receive pity," he said, shaking her hand off.

"Then I will not give it to you," she told him, and then smiled slightly. "It would be a lost cause, anyway." He glanced at her swiftly, expressions crossing his face too quickly and too subtly to make sense of them. Still smiling, she said, "What I was going to say was that I'm glad you told me, Neji-san. I'm glad you trust me with something like that." And, before she could tell herself all the reasons why this was probably a bad idea, Sakura gave the normally stoic man before her a brief, tight hug. Then, giving him a bright smile, she walked briskly away.

If she had looked back, Sakura might have seen a very stunned Neji gazing almost disbelievingly after her. She might also have seen a light red steal unbidden over his entire face.

……………………

Neji felt much, MUCH better after talking to Sakura. She had accepted his apology! SHE DIDN'T HATE HIM! He felt like celebrating! Like getting a few drinks and partying! …No, actually, scratch that. He was never touching the stuff again. But still, he was forgiven! And to make it even better, she had hugged him! Nothing could dampen his mood, nothing- he did a double take. Was that Inuzuka _looking_ at Sakura?

Neji growled. Now he was walking towards Sakura- and now he was talking to her! How dare he! Ergh…but it would look bad in front of Sakura if he suddenly went up and beat that dog-boy to a bloody pulp for no apparent reason. Well then, he and Inuzuka needed to have a little talk. Yes, that could wor- oh hell no! Now Sakura was _smiling_ at him. She wasn't supposed to smile at _him_! Neji's eyebrow twitched as he felt suddenly filled with hot jealousy. He needed to kill something. Now. But what to- ah, tree!

Needless to say, it was not a very good day for trees.

……………………

Kiba too found himself feeling much better after talking to Sakura. With time spent lacking a headache, it hadn't taken too long before he started vaguely remembering what had happened that morning. It also didn't take him too long to come to the conclusion that he would be much better off apologizing sooner rather than later. Luckily, Sakura seemed to be in a very forgiving mood. When finished, Kiba practically bounced off.

Sometime during mid-bounce, someone grabbed his arm and began dragging him off. "Inuzuka, we need to talk." Oh. It was Neji.

"What do you want, Neji?" he asked once Neji seemed to decide that they were far enough away from camp.

"What were you talking about with Sakura-san?" Kiba looked at him intently, trying to figure out what Neji was getting at. Of course, it was like trying to read a block of ice. Unless, just maybe…

"What's it to you?" Kiba countered, crossing his arms.

"Just tell me, Inuzuka," Neji bit out.

"Fine, you want to know? I'll tell you…"

……………………

Neji twitched slightly. The mutt was rambling on and on and _on_. He wasn't sure what exactly he was talking about, other than the fact that the name "Sakura" was repeated quite a bit. Honestly, he had stopped paying attention a while ago. Neji was a bit preoccupied with his hands, which seemed to have suddenly developed a mind of their own. They desperately wanted to attach themselves to something, something like…Inuzuka's throat, for instance. He was having a rather difficult time controlling them; it was taking much of his self-discipline and most of his attention. They were being very persuasive. But, he couldn't. That would make Sakura sad, not to mention Hinata and Tenten. No, he couldn't.

Then Neji heard something that abruptly brought him out of his silent argument with his hands; something that came out of Inuzuka's mouth that did _not_ belong there.

"Yeah, she's really something, my Sakura-chan." That was it. Neji and his hands were now in complete agreement: dog-boy was going to die.

He tackled him.

……………………

Sakura was playing with Cocoa when she suddenly saw Akamaru race past her, barking his head off. She tensed, looking around warily. Akamaru wouldn't do that unless there was trouble. The last time he had done that, Neji had been beating the crap out of Naruto. She glanced around quickly, searching for both of them. She spotted Naruto trotting over to her. Now, where was Neji…?

"Do you know what that was all about?" the blond asked, indicating the direction that the dog had taken off.

"No I don't, but I intend to find out," Sakura replied. "Gather up the others, Naruto. I'm going to see what the problem is." Naruto nodded, knowing better than to argue.

……………………

The sight that greeted Sakura's eyes was the last one she wanted to see: Neji strangling Kiba. She saw Akamaru as well, trying to rescue his master. So that was what had agitated the dog. Sakura knew she had to move fast; Kiba's face was turning blue. "Neji-san, stop it!" He wasn't listening. She didn't think he could hear anything. Sakura tried to pry open Neji's hands. "Neji-san!" He was strong, but she hadn't spent years as the Godaime's apprentice for nothing. She broke his hold.

Quickly pulling Neji away, Sakura put her face right in front of his so that he could no longer see Kiba. Still holding his hands as he continued trying to tackle the gasping dog-nin (now being helped by the others, who had also arrived), she said, "Neji, you need to stop! Can you hear me? Calm down!" He seemed to register her face for the first time.

"Sakura-san…" Before Neji could say anything else, a there was a strangled cry behind them. Sakura turned in time to see Kiba get up.

"Bastard, I'll kill you!" He rushed past her and tackled Neji. They fell to the ground, grappling and rolling.

And suddenly, they were no longer alone.

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A/N: Wow. It's only after rereading this after ages of not that I've realized just how OOC Neji is. Gah… But oh well, I'm not gonna change him now. You know, as I was writing about Neji arguing with his hands it made me think about Doc Oc in the Spiderman movie. You know, how his claw things talked to him and stuff. It gave me a funny image…sort of. Anywho, ciao.

PS - Muah-ah-ah-ah-ah…Evil cliffie!


	12. Arrgh

A/N:

A/N: Hello…again. Ugh, just…ugh. I am really sorry to everyone who has read, reviewed, put this story on alert, etc., but I've just really lost my mojo for this story. Looking back on the whole thing, it just kinda feels really odd and immature to me. I don't know if any of you think that, but I do. I don't know. Maybe one day I'll be able to write more, but at the moment I've just really lost any motivation I have for this story. I am really, really sorry, but I have finally made up my mind to officially put this on hiatus.

On the upside, I do have other ideas that I will (eventually) post. It's just a matter of getting them out of my head… But yeah, I'm not completely dead as a writer or anything, just in this story. I actually am going to post some stuff that I've put on deviantART but not here. It's not Naruto stuff, but if you like Ben 10, please try it. :)

Oh, I am also taking commissions. See my profile for details.

Oh, ps, I have edited Conflicting Chaos somewhat and posted the new versions of the chapters. Reread it if you want, whatever. I just really felt the need to fix some stuff in it. It was really bugging me. Yeah. Well. Until next time. Ciao! ;)


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